Hearts of Gold, Souls of Silver
by One of The Three Amigos
Summary: A tale of two kids from different continents and backgrounds that start an adventure together. And things get worse from there.
1. The beginning

Tatsu55 says: Hey there, I'm tatsu55! I'm writing this fic in conjuncture with One of the three amigos (Who really needs to find a new name that isn't as long for himself). We originally were just talking Pokémon and being stupid, and somehow out of that gobbledygook we came up with the idea for a story, which we then (because we have nothing better to do with our spare time) began to write it without pause. We somehow have a lot planned for this fic, and I only hope we keep up our pace and continue to write like we have been. There will be more for you to read after the chapter, so for now enjoy the first chapter of HEARTS OF GOLD, SOULS OF SILVER!

One sez: And I'm One of the Three Amigos (And yes I know Tats I need to change my name gawd stop making fun of me already). I've always been a fan of the games, and had always planned to write something, and this sort of came up when me and my friend Tatsu started talking about what it would be like if our current Heart Gold and Soul Silver characters met. Our plans were quite a bit cracky at first, until we decided to try a more serious approach at writing this than make any sort of parody (though we will most likely be spoofing and parodying the more fantastic and dumb parts of the games and the fandom in general). Anyway, as I want to get this out as soon as I can I won't keep you very much longer, except for this warning.

This is an original trainer fic, with our own twists. If you don't like original trainer fics, then this isn't for you. The plot is based sort of on Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver (As per the stupid name of the fic :D). If you don't like plots based on the games, then this isn't for you. We also base the battling system more on the anime and Pokémon Special manga. If you like neither, then this isn't for you.

Also, if you do not like the Moosebox, then this isn't for you. And you are a horrible person. I hope the next time walk you down the street you get run over by cancer.

Tatsu55 says: Wait, wha

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: We do not own Pokémon. That belongs to those who made it up and hold shares of it these days.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The beginning ('cause we're too unoriginal to come up with something original hurp-a derp derp derp)

* * *

"Ion!" The voice of a woman rang through the air, and there was a small groan and shuffle as a young man slid further under his blankets, mumbling something under his breath about 'five more minutes' and it 'being too bright'. "Ion Mettle, you wake up this instant! Breakfast is almost ready, and you'd best get up to eat now or else you'll be late to that appointment you have with that Professor Elm person down the street!"

It only took a few minutes for his mother's shout to get through to the sleeping boy's brain, but in that time his bedroom door had been opened and two forms were let scampering into his room just in time for them to pounce on the boy as he threw his covers off of him wildly, sending them to the cluttered floor of his room in a giggling heap. His dark eyes were squeezed shut as he laughed from the combined tickle attack from his baby Kangaskhan and Cubone, trying to protect himself but overpowered by the playful child Pokémon.

"Oh, come on, guys, you need to let me up so we can get ready!" He cried out after a bit, his Cubone grabbing a fistful of his dark hair and tugging on it as the young man stood, letting the tiny, skull wearing theropod-like Pokémon sit on his shoulder. He patted the young, 'slightly' larger Kangaskhan on the head, the little kangaroo-like Pokémon backing away when Cubone finally relinquished its attack; he used to be able to pick her up in his arms when he'd gotten her a few years ago, the daughter of his mother's Kangaskhan, but she was getting far too big for that now.

He heard a sigh and titter from his bedroom door, only managing to turn and catch his mother closing it behind her, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at it. Oh, yes, she knew he would get payback for that. There was a reason he didn't let his Pokémon pets sleep in the same room as him anymore; they tended to pounce on him at the first light of dawn if they could, and he hated keeping them in their Poké Balls. He didn't think those cramped looking things were very comfortable. And with his baby Kangaskhan girl, it was starting to get less cute and more painful as she started to get bigger and wasn't getting used to her new size as quick to his liking.

He rushed picking out new clothes, getting into the shower and cleaning off, even though he blocked his slightly younger sister from getting into the bathroom (And snickered as she pounded on the door, ranting at him; he had a feeling if he had unlocked it just before he'd gotten into the shower she'd have flushed the toilet on him in revenge) and sped to the breakfast table after drying off and getting dressed; he didn't want to be late, and if his mom said the appointment was soon (At the very least, he had taken what she said to mean that it was, anyway), ignoring the baleful look his sister gave him from across the table as he cleaned the plate his mother piled food on, not knowing why he was getting so hungry lately but just deciding to feed his hunger and worry about it later. His Pokémon looked at him with bewilderment and amusement as he ate in a far more animalistic manner than they ever did, but he ignored them. They were always rather smug about it; he swore they were worse than his mother's Delcatty in that regard.

Finally sating his hunger, he cleaned his lips and cheeks, grabbed his plates and utensils and put them in the sink for his mother, gave her a kiss on the cheek when she bent down for one and a quick hug, then dashed to where his Pokémon were finishing up, grabbed his Cubone and plopped him on his shoulder, grabbed his baby Kangaskhan's paw and began to run toward the front door, giving his little sister's hair a ruffling just before he dashed off.

"I'll be back later, mom, see you this afternoon!" He cried out behind him, and though he could have sworn he heard her yell out to wait he was already out the door and down the street, his Pokémon holding onto him for dear life (in the case of Cubone) or struggling to keep up with his quick pace (in the case of Kangaskhan).

Young Ion Mettle, sixteen years old, was finally of the age to become a legalized Pokémon Trainer, and had been for a few months before he'd decided to follow in his father's footsteps and become one. Even though he could have been considered one before, as he had his Cubone and Kangaskhan for close to seven years now, it hadn't been 'legal', and he hadn't been allowed to take the Pokémon League Challenge and be exempt from school for a few years, even though these days trainers could take school courses on the road thanks to portable internet terminals.

He'd made his decision to become a trainer after hearing so many times about the adventures his parents, whom had been trainers in their youth, and felt like he wanted to experience what they had; the roughing it, the adventure, the battles, everything. Of course he'd asked his Pokémon, who had been nothing more than just mere pets ever since they were born and had been his best friends for several years, if they'd like to be his starters, and while they didn't really like the idea of traveling out in the big, wide world like that, they didn't like the idea of him traveling all by himself with some strange Pokémon even more. It was their loyalty that trumped their desire for the comfortable life they'd always known, and they'd always be able to come back to it, so the decision hadn't been that hard for them to make.

But sometimes one wonders if they should reconsider, especially if the one they're doing this for is hyper and impatient, and currently was dragging them behind him like rag dolls. Though both knew it was already too late to change their minds, as before them the building in which Professor Elm worked and lived in came into view.

Now, as Pokémon Professors tended to hand out Pokémon to new trainers as per new Pokémon League rules, there'd normally be a crowd outside the buildings they operated out of every other week, new trainers gathering from all over to get their first Pokémon. However, Elm went by different rules; if you wanted a Pokémon, you had to set up an appointment first. And you could be refused an appointment if Elm didn't like the look of you or your past. So unlike other labs (Except for maybe the professor's in Sinnoh's), there was no crowd around Elm's establishment.

And our young man was very lucky that Elm had been able to see through his hyper activity and see his true potential (Or at least, that's what the boy deluded himself into thinking that's what Elm saw in him; it was, in reality, more like pity and he was doing this out of a favor for the boy's parents).

With a dazzling smile, the boy bounded up to the front door of the lab and pounded on it relentlessly, his two pocket monsters either hanging onto him limply or leaning against him, panting in exhaustion but both glad that was over. The boy continued to relentlessly knock on the door, smiling a slightly dopy smile, and not noticing for a few minutes when the door opened and he had began knocking on something harder than wood.

He looked up in surprised, seeing two beady eyes look down at him from a brown, stone-like face with a wide mouth, and noticed the long arms attached to a log-like body, which had hands with three large, bulbous green fingers attached to them.

"Sudo?" It questioned, looking puzzled at the suddenly embarrassed boy, who waved at it.

"Is Ethan, Lyra or the Professor in, buddy?" Ion asked in return, trying to look past the tree-rock Pokémon that was so much taller than him. "Preferably I'd like to see all three… Um, I'm not too early, am I?" The last question was punctuated by his embarrassed expression turning even more so, his cheeks blushing a slight, hot pink as he scratched the back of his neck, nearly knocking his Cubone off of his shoulder.

"Let him in, Sudowoodo, he's right on time," A voice called from inside the lab, one that Ion was happy to recognize as Professor Elm's (though he ignored the almost exasperated but yet amused tone in the man's voice), and the boy grinned and was off like a shot past the rock-tree, who barely had enough time to let him by without being trampled (though it wouldn't have even been hurt anyway).

Ion came to a stop by Elm's side with a hop, grinning up at the man who gave a tired sounding laugh, standing up from his computer and desk (And hiding the game of solitaire he'd been playing while he waited for the boy to arrive), reaching down to ruffle his still drying hair. "I see you didn't take your time in getting here, kiddo."

"I really, really wanna be able to go fight super killer space alien zombie ninja pirate robot teams out to conquer the universe, sir," The boy replied as if on a sugar high, bouncing in place while holding his baby Kangaskhan's paw firmly so she wouldn't try to wander off (not that she had the energy to if she wanted, though), grinning excitedly.

Elm laughed at that outrageous idea, which got the boy snickering with him, but like with the rest of his family, he didn't know if the boy was making a serious statement or not. Either way it was a good idea to humor them while trying not to put their ideas down too harshly, or sidestep them all together.

"Well then," Elm began, turning to a trio of Poké Balls that came out of the storage table he normally kept them on, "Now would be the time you get to pick your starter."

At that, Ion's face screwed up, looking at the trio of appearing Poké Balls with some apprehension.

"But, sir," He began slowly, as if he was trying to find the words to express his sudden distress and distaste. Elm felt a cold feeling run down his spine. "Don't I already have my starters with me? You know, Mortimer," he petted his Cubone on its skull mask, "And Nabel?" And he held up his Kangaskhan's paw. "I mean, not that I'd mind getting an easy third Pokémon already, but I thought…"

Elm really, really wished he didn't have to explain this part to the child, as he had no real want to destroy any plans the boy had, didn't know how to explain it had become League Law to only make a legalized trainer if they'd gotten a starter from a professor, any professor, and any Pokémon (Though it'd preferably be one of the three Pokémon species who were sanctioned to them to give out), and he wished for something, anything, to come and save him from this before he had to ultimately kill a boy's dream before it began…

And got his wish when the door to his lab opened and everyone's attention (including the Sudowoodo, who had gotten a bag of popcorn for the scene that been about to ensue) was brought to it, and to the young man with a quadrapedal Pokémon by his feet, who waved at Elm in greeting.

"Hey, Professor Elm. Hope I'm not intruding, am I?"

* * *

A ship's horn blared, causing a young man to slowly open his eyes as it disturbed him from his sleep. He got up, stretching, and scratching his auburn hair. As he began to prepare for the day, getting into light clothing, some shorts and a worn shirt that looked like it'd seen some traveling in its time, took a watch like contraption and looked at it, looking through a few of its options before accessing his e-mail feature, seeing a few new ones, mostly spam plus one addressed to a 'Ray, Will'. Deciding to look at it later, he finished getting ready, picked up a backpack and left everything else in his room, locked the door, and the young man, Ray, looked out over the moving landmass, glad the smell of salt no longer assailed his senses, and instead there was a refreshing, alpine sent in the air, causing him to breathe deeply, smiling slightly, reminding him of home.

It had been a long trip from his home in Sinnoh, but today they were scheduled to finally arrive in New Bark Town, where his father's acquaintance Professor Elm lived. He had come to reaffirm what his father had recently learned. While in Eterna Forest, Ray's Eevee had evolved, but not into Espeon or Umbreon. It had evolved into a whole new type of Eevee when it was offered a leaf stone. Professor Rowan had theorized that Eevee had more evolutions, and this proved that there were, even if they weren't sure what exactly was the catalyst of the evolution; was it the leaf stone, the environment, trust in the trainer, some combination of two of those or all three? Either way, his father went off into the icy region of Sinnoh to see if Eevee had an ice evolution as Rowan predicted as well and Ray was to go to Johto, and continue their research there.

After a moment of watching a riverbank roll by, he decided to take a walk. As they were nearing the destination, Ray visited several key parts of the boat he had not yet seen. However, he soon began to hear the sounds of battle and, brow drawn together, headed for another part of the deck, close to the front of the boat.

He stumbled across the end of a battle, seeing a Luxio and a Perisan stalking each other. Persian looked quite a bit beat up, seeing as it was panting slightly, while Luxio seemed to be in peak condition, and was smug about it, too.

"Lark," The Luxio's trainer began, pointing triumphantly, grinning, "Use Spark and finish this two-bit cat off!"

"Don't take that, Perisan!" The other cat's trainer cried, looking desperate, "Use Fury Swipes to show it who's boss!"

The two cats continued to circle each other for a bit, trying to get a good look at the other's weakness and openings, before they jumped apart and began to run at each other, Persian jumping into the air and pouncing at Luxio, claws ready to slice him apart.

Luxio, however, continued running at Persian, grinning, and with a sudden crackle surrounded itself with electricity and barreled right into Persian, getting raked with claws but ultimately sending the other cat flying, ending up as a heap on the ground.

And after it didn't get back up, the other trainer hung his head and returned it, even as the Luxio's trainer and his Pokémon gave hollers of triumph, and some of the other people on the deck huffed and went on their way. Ray felt curious about that, but when the lightning lion's trainer began to speak, he snapped his attention to him.

"That makes me the strongest on this boat!" He yelled, looking extremely pleased with himself.

Ray raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and tapping a finger on his bicep, looking thoughtful. Had this man really fought every other Pokémon trainer here? Well, then…

"You haven't battled me yet." Came Ray's calm, collected voice from the sidelines, making the sailor turn sharply in his direction. "Of course, if you are the strongest, I'd be more than pleased to battle you."

The sailor man grinned. "Alright!" He replied, though Ray could practically hear him think, 'Now I really _will_ be the strongest one on this boat!'

"Though I do have one condition," Ray said, causing the other man to pause in calling out a Pokémon, "might we have a double battle instead? My Pokémon enjoy team play a bit better than going solo."

"Whatever you want, kid." The other trainer replied, making Ray's eye twitch. Ever since the Pokémon trainer age restriction had increased from ten to sixteen, everyone below eighteen became a kid to the rest of the world. Being sixteen himself, Ray could do nothing about the terms others used.

"Then let the duel commence." Ray stated, unclipping two Poké Balls from his belt.

"I think you mean battle, kid." The sailor interrupted, bringing out only one ball, but his Luxio took a ready position in front of him.

"I know what I said." Ray stated once more, annoyance creeping into his voice.

The man started, throwing the Poké Balls into the air and calling, "Come on out Stinger! Back up Lark!" What seemed to be a tropical frog was released along side the sparkling lion, standing on its hind legs and looking rather uncomfortable about the bright sun up above.

"Interesting." Ray commented, though he had a bit of a smirk. He then just opened his two Pok Balls in his hands, not really caring about being too flashy here. "Come on Espeon, Umbreon. Let's start things off." A cat-like Pokémon with graceful posture and a split tail came forth, along with a dark Pokémon with golden rings on various parts of its body, and more canine in nature than its more graceful counterpart.

The man and his two Pokémon stared at the two Eons in surprise, before the sailor let out a small, "Ah, poopie."

"Lark, Charge yourself up!" The man cried quickly, panicked already, and the Luxio began to store up power in its body, crackly with electricity. However, his Croagunk floundered around a bit in a panic, not having gotten an order and thus not knowing what to do. At the same time, Ray initiated the offensive.

"Espeon, Confusion! Umbreon, Confuse Ray!" Espeon began to glow with violet energy, and suddenly Croagunk was lifted in the air and slammed down into the deck, where it lay, already knocked out of the battle.

A small ray flew from Umbreon's forehead ring and hit the Luxio effortlessly, as when Charging the Luxio could not move. It didn't look damaged, but it did look like it was suddenly suffering vertigo, shaking its head and blinking, rocking side to side.

"Erg..." The man groaned, returning his Croagunk to its Ball. He quickly chose another, the last on his belt, and called out, "Come on Tater!"

A small beetle-ish Pokémon materialized onto the field. It blinked, looking at all of them curiously, letting out a strange chirp. However, the man looked kind of pleased with himself, grinning. He had a way to end this _and_ win!

"Now, Bug Bite that Espeon!" He called to his Kricketot, before adding in, almost as an after thought, "Lark, use Spark on it as well!"

However, the Luxio couldn't follow the order; when it tried to build up a charge of electricity, made easy with the Charge attack it used earlier, it instead ended up overpowering itself with it, letting out a cry of pain as electricity was sent flying everywhere, the crowd that had gathered to watch this (And cheering on for Ray to win this) scattering every which way to avoid it.

The Kricketot, however, was under no such penalty, and began to run up to Espeon and gave it a quick, but hard, bite on her side even as she tried to avoid it. Espeon let out a cry of pain, and Ray winced, not enjoying seeing his Pokémon injured. However, he knew that in order to win this, they'd need to endure, and they knew that as well. And thus he gave his next order, pointing at the Luxio dramatically;

"Espeon, use Helping Hand! Umbreon, use Hyper Beam!"

"WHAT!" The man, and half the crowd, shouted in surprise, but it was too late.

A violet glow suddenly surrounded Ray's Espeon and Umbreon, and with a wicked look in its eyes, Umbreon looked intently at Luxio, breathing deep, the rings on his body glowing brightly.

And like a dragon would with firebreath, he opened his mouth and breathed a massive blast of energy at the Luxio, which only could stare like a deer in headlights before it was consumed by the massive beam, which continued past the boat's railing and into the riverbank the ship lazily sailed by.

After it ended, the man's Luxio lay on the deck, whimpering, and the man returned his Pokémon to its Ball, looking gobsmacked, as well as just about everyone watching this fight. Umbreon was exhausted, however, that blast being enough to make him stand there, panting, his breath still making heat waves as he watched the only remaining opponent on the deck, hoping it wouldn't attack until he caught his wind back.

That hope was in vain, however, as the sailor man began to grind his teeth, face flush with anger, before yelling at his scared Kicketot, "Don't just stand there, you useless insect! Bug Bite that Espeon again!"

The little beetle, startled by its trainer, gathered its courage and ran at Espeon, biting it hard and then running back toward its trainer, still scared by the Umbreon that had used such a powerful attack. Espeon winced, letting out another cry before falling over, defeated. As the sailor whooped about finally bringing a Pokémon down, Ray sighed, returning his Eon to her Ball.

"Good job, young one." Ray said quietly to the ball. He then turned his attention back to the other man, a small frown on his face as he announced, "Well, looks like you'll get to see the newest addition to my team." Ray took another ball off his belt, his last one, and said, throwing it in a rather flashy manner this time, "Finish him off, Leafeon!"

What out came what appeared to be a strange creature, resembling a young fennec fox, only she had leaves for a tail and ears, and her fur seemed to resemble pale grass rather than actual fur.

'However, Leafeon is a grass type.' The Sinnoh trainer thought to himself, frowning. 'If I'm not wise about my next move... His Kricketot could wipe out my entire team.' Ray seemed to ponder for a moment, and the man took his chance to strike.

"I dunno what that other Eevee of yours is," The man began, a grin on his face, figuring he had this in the win now, getting overconfident, "but I know your Umbreon's weakness! Bug Bite that Umbreon, Tater!"

"Leafeon, return!" Ray responded without putting any more thought into it.

As the Kricketot, happy its master was finally pleased with it, began to run at Umbreon, the Leafeon slammed into the Kricketot from the side with such force that it fainted upon impact.

The man's jaw dropped, not having expected that; he thought he'd been recalling that strange Eevee, but it instead did some strange, insanely powerful tackle.

Seeing their opponent wasn't going to call out another Pokémon, and rightfully assuming the battle was over, the Umbreon and Leafeon returned to their master, rubbing up against his legs affectionately, and yipped when he bent down to pet them behind their ears. After rewarding his loyal monsters, Ray looked up at the guy who limply recalled his Kricketot, and began to speak;

"Return is a move that gets more powerful the more the Pokémon likes you."

However, that wasn't the only thing he wanted to say. The only evolved Pokémon this guy had was his Luxio, no doubt his pride and joy, and he seemed to have trouble following more than one in battle. Not only that, his Croagunk and Kricketot did not look as well trained as it had, and that had been part of his downfall. Especially as Kricketot evolved fast with a little love and training.

"And a word of advice: Spend more time with your Kricketot." The man, finally out of his shocked state, looked at Ray weirdly. The young trainer clarified, "The reason you lost today is because it doesn't have the strength of its evolved form. It will only evolve when you treat it with care and understanding, the same with your Croagunk."

The man frowned thoughtfully, but Ray didn't get to stick around for any epiphany the man may have had; he was dragged away by some other trainers that congratulated him, slapping him hard on the back, asking him how he got his Pokémon so strong and other assorted questions. His Eons followed faithfully, looking up at their trainer, who looked pretty uncomfortable with all this attention.

The horn sounded loudly again, and looking toward the front of the boat, Ray could finally see his destination approaching in the distance. It was time for Ray to pay a visit to the professor of Johto. Now if only he could extricate himself from this jubilation…

* * *

Tatsu55 says: As I have been run over by cancer for my dislike of Moosebox, I will leave what we wanted to say at the end of this chapter to my friend One, as I go reattach my limbs.

One sez: (laughing evilly) Oh, poor poor Tats, you really should have learned. Ahem, anyway. Well, while this is the first chapter, we've already written enough material as is to get the next few chapters out until we run out.

HOWEVER! We've paused with writing any more until we get submissions. What sort, you may ask? It's easy; we need other trainers. One we haven't made, that is. That's where anyone reading this piece of crap comes in. :D

Send me a PM or E-mail (And do either by going to my author page) and send me your trainer, as well as their Pokémon. _Don't_ do it by review. Reviews are for reviewing, not for dropping things like that on me. There are rules against it, after all. There are a few other rules to this, though.

Please, please make sure they don't have a super rare Pokémon, unless they're supposed to be a more experienced trainer. Going by that, DON'T INCLUDE A LEGENDARY AS ONE OF THEIR POKÉMON. Going by anime rules, which we will for many other things to appear in this fic, _catching a_ _Legendary is a bad idea_, like, _world ending _bad. And besides which, they'd be far too strong to be caught unless they wanted to be (Which is never, or unless you cheat and use Master Balls but those are even more rare in this world than in the games (Without use of cheat devices, that is)).

Otherwise, I really don't care what you name your character, or if you give their Pokémon nicknames or what have you, or what sort of moves they'd have as this based on the anime, and thus things like 'Attack' and 'Special Attack' aren't separated. Just be warned that I will, most likely, be as nice to them as I will my own character and everything living in this world. Which is, to say, not very nice.

Anyway, yeah, read, and if you feel like it, review, and if you don't, alright then.

See ya'll later.

One

(And Tatsu55, who is still recovering from being run over by cancer)


	2. The meeting

Chapter 2: A meeting.

(Because... What else do you call something where two young people of opposite temperaments get together and going on a journey?)

* * *

Elm's eyes lit up as soon as he saw the new Pokémon at Ray's side, and a gasp came forth from his throat before he pushed Ion to the side (perhaps a bit rougher than he intended, knocking the young man on his butt) and raced up to the new young man, bending down to inspect the strange looking Eevee that was with him (that is, the one looking like a botany science project gone wrong), and pretty much ignored the uncomfortable expression that screwed up its face, and the warning growl coming from its throat.

"This... This is the Eevee? The one your father said he found, Ray?" He asked, looking like he wanted to reach out and touch it, to see if it was real... "The one he said that he wanted me to see? The one Rowan was all smug about?"

"Yeah, that'd be the one." Ray responded, looking down at the professor. "Its name is Leafeon, courtesy of professor Rowan's naming sense. Oh and before you try to touch her..."

His warning came a little late, as Elm had reached out excitedly to the new Pokémon, his geek mode (or professor mode, if you could call it that) taking over. In response, the Leafeon bit Elm's hand with impressive force. "She bites." Ray finished, as Elm's eyes began to water with tears.

"Ah, so I have discovered..." Elm said.

"No, Professor Rowan found that out before you did, too."

Meanwhile, Ion had stood up, rubbing his bottom, and looking at what was going on in confusion, before his face screwed up slightly in annoyance. As he lived in New Bark Town pretty much all his life, he also knew Professor Elm's mannerisms quite well. If something new was placed right in front of him, something he'd only dreamt of, he'd get quite distracted with it and drop everything else.

And today was his day to begin being a trainer, too. He felt it was best to get the Professor back on track, he could study the new Pokémon later.

"Mr. Elm, sir," Ion began to whine, and Elm once more felt a cold feeling run down his spine, "What did you mean about picking my starter? I have my starters already!"

Sudowoodo had gone to fetch a first aid kit to bandage and disinfect his master's hand, and Elm gave him a small thanks and began to wrap his hand, sighing softly.

"Alright, sorry Ion. This isn't the time to be studying, not on someone else's time. Especially not this... _Amazing_, new discovery." The professor sighed again, going back to the trio of Poké Balls he'd summoned before, muttering something under his breath.

After he was next to his storage table, he motioned the boy over to him. "Anyway, Ion, I'm sorry, but to be a legalized trainer I'm going to have to ask you to pick one of these three on the table. And it's not negotiable," He added that last bit when he saw the dark haired boy about to protest, "It's part of the rules. All trainers have to pick an official starter to go with their trainer's ID."

"But that doesn't make sense! And I already have my starters! I don't need another, even if it's an easy third Pokémon!" The young man protested anyway, his expression annoyed and stubborn.

"Just do it." Came Ray's calm voice. "I myself have a Chimchar, though I left it back in Sinnoh at the Day Care to help out my grandparents. It is a rule, so there's no use in arguing."

Ion immediately whirled on him, his face screwed up in annoyance. "But it just doesn't make sense! Why do they force somebody to do something they don't want to do if they just want to be a trainer? Doesn't that lead to people not wanting to do that and going on to be illegal trainers and form gangs and stuff? Being constrained by unfair rules like this?"

Ray sighed. "No, most of the time they just take the Pokémon offered them. If they don't want to use the Pokémon, they trade it or leave it at home. And only a stupid person joins a gang because they don't like receiving a Pokémon from a professor."

Before the argument could go on (And perhaps escalate further, like into a Pokémon Battle), an obnoxious voice spoke from Elm's computer speakers, "YOU'VE GOT MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL~!"

The boys were stunned silent, watching Elm, who had been about to interrupt anyway, walk to his computer, and open up his mailbox. After reading his e-mail under his breath, he recoiled from the computer, blinking. "Hm," He intoned, looking interestedly at the words on his computer screen.

Ray, curiosity getting the better of him, also approached the computer. Looking over Elm's shoulder, he also read the e-mail, but this time out loud.

"Dear Elmboy,

You ain't gonna believe this awesome thing that I found near my crib the other day! It's like, totally a Pokémon egg I've never seen before! Come get it right away, dude!

Your homeboy Mr. Pokémon"

Ray finished reading, and his eye twitched again. What the hell was this guy anyway?

Ion's interest had long since faded in this, and he began to check out the three Pokémon that Elm was going to force him to pick anyway, popping them out of their Poké Balls and letting them interact with Mortimer and Nabel, watching with a slight frown.

Elm was once again disregarding the thing he was doing for something new that held his interest, and clicked on the attachment that had been sent to him.

Ray quickly turned away. The picture showed Mr. Pokémon holding up the egg in one hand, and the other making some obscene gesture that Ray knew looked utterly stupid.

Elm however sucked in a breath when he saw the picture, ignoring what his long time colleague was doing in favor of the white egg, the one in Mr. Pokémon's hand, which had blue and red markings, and immediately knew he must study it, if it was, indeed, a Pokémon egg. But he also had to give Ion his first Pokémon...

An idea sparked in his head, and he turned to see Ion inspecting his sanctioned starters, a Totodile, a Cyndaquil and a Chikorita, and, quite eager to get another thing to study, Elm asked, "So, which one do you like best?"

"I don't like any of them," Ion stated bluntly. And the entire lab descended into silence.

"Don't you usually have more than three choices on hand, professor?" Ray asked curiously, in an effort to break the awkwardness. In Sinnoh, there were five officially sanctioned Pokémon to start with, same in Kanto. He didn't know about Hoenn, but he had assumed it was the same everywhere.

Elm shrugged. "If the boy had gotten an earlier appointment this week he would've had more choices, but these three are the only ones left now."

"So basically, he needs to choose one of those three. So choose one." He said to Ion, looking at the three Pokémon, each of which had their own strategic advantages.

"I don't like any of them," Ion repeated, sticking his nose up in the air. The Cyndaquil and Chikorita heard him this time, and both seemed disappointed, but the Totodile narrowed its eyes at him, licking its suddenly gleaming chops.

"You know, you should think about the Pokémon a bit more." Ray commented. "Talk to them like that and they'll hit you. Or scratch you. Or bite you."

As if right on cue, the Totodile chomped Ion's leg. After a moment of silence, Ion began to jump around while screaming like a ninny and trying to get the Totodile off of his leg.

"Looks like he chose to bite." Ray remarked calmly.

Ion was quite a bit less calm about it. "AND THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE THEM!" The boy shouted, finally just smacking the Totodile's snout right into a bookcase, and it instantly let go to nurse its injured nose.

Elm sighed, allowing Sudowoodo to tend to the boy's injured leg. "Well then, if you're having trouble deciding now, I'd like you to run an errand for me, Ion. It'll give you time to choose which one you want."

"But I don't like any of them." The boy replied, though he sounded interested in the errand deal. If he had to pick one, as he was being forced to, he'd at least have a bit more time to think about which of the three he'd like to have best.

Although it probably wouldn't be that Totodile. Little jerkgator.

"Professor, are you sure you want this little kid doing an errand for you?" Ray asked.

"I believe he can handle it." Elm replied.

"I'm not a little kid, I'm sixteen years old!" Ion protested grumpily, eyes narrowed at Will. Just because he was short didn't mean he was a little kid. People always got that screwed up!

"Alright, sorry. I meant no offense." Ray said, raising up his arms as though in a hold up. "I know you have to be at least sixteen, otherwise you wouldn't be getting a trainer card."

"Then why'd you call me a kid?" Ion practically demanded, the boy crossing his arms at the taller teen and pouting.

"Because you're short." Ray responded simply.

Ion's face froze, before it screwed up in anger and not even trying to stop himself, he kicked Ray in the shin, who looked surprised and somewhat pained, and then grumped away, his Cubone and Kangaskhan sharing a worried glance after this before chasing after him.

"Ow." Ray remarked, rubbing his shin, which hurt quite a bit after that kick. "Well I suppose I deserved that. So professor, I'm guessing kid there doesn't want to do your errand after all?"

"It's only because you called him short." Elm returned. "His name is Ion, and believe it or not I think he may be a promising new trainer."

"Ah, so you noticed I didn't know his name yet." Ray said, smiling lightly.

"Of course. Anyone would notice after you called him kid when you're the same age." Elm replied, making Ray chuckled in embarrassment.

And then Ion chose that moment to stomp back into the lab, that grumpy look still on his face, and rather shortly asked, "Where does Mr. Pokémon live again?" He knew it had to do with Mr. Pokemon, but he had always had Ethan or Lyra to guide him there before, and Ion had forgotten where exactly the other researcher lived as it had been a while since his last visit, and the path there may have overgrown again.

"Near Cherrygrove, kiddo, just a little ways north, near the route to Violet City." Elm answered, and Ion nodded, turning back toward the door and leaving the lab entirely.

Ray sighed. "Should I follow him?"

Elm nodded. "That might be for the best."

"Alright then." Ray answered, and rushed out the door with Leafeon in tow.

"And I really wanted to examine it..." Elm sighed sadly.

* * *

"Yo, Ion! Wait up!" Ray shouted at his quarry, though he would've caught up soon enough, seeing as how he was jogging and Ion was still stomping around.

The boy was really tempted to just ignore the taller teen, he really, really was, but he realized that he would never be able to outrun him with his very childish (even to him) stomping, so he sighed and waited for Ray to catch up with him.

"Elm rope you into coming along with me?" He asked, almost sounding subdued. Rather different from the high-strung boy from before.

"Yeah, he did. Name's Ray. Sorry about earlier, but I didn't know your name, so I said the first thing that came to mind." Ray held out his hand.

"Also, you don't really need my help, but do you have a PokéGear? I hear those are in around here, what with the maps and phones and all. In Sinnoh we use the Pokéwatch, which I guess is actually very similar." Ray held up his other wrist, showing a device that couldn't be mistaken for anything but a smaller more portable version of a PokéGear.

Ion stared at the taller teen for a few moments, before he began to search his pockets and bag, trying to find where he put his PokéGear before he realized it wasn't on his person, and he proceeded to freak out; after all, PokéGears were useful, expensive pieces of equipment, and to lose one, just like that... Well, his parents would kill him.

"ION!" A familiar voice to the boy called out from the other side of the town, one that made Mortimer and Nabel perk up, and Ion himself freeze up slightly. "YOU FORGOT YOUR POKÉGEAR!"

The boy's cheeks burned a bright pink, and he gave an embarrassed smile for a second before dashing off, his Pokémon trailing after him for a bit before just deciding to take a nap in the shade of a tree.

Ray shook his head. "A bit high strung, isn't he." He said to Leafeon, who gave a small cry of agreement. "I suppose we can just wait here then, seeing as his pokemon are taking a nap and all."

A few minutes later, the boy ran back, somewhat out of breath, and noticed his Pokémon napping under a tree and that the new kid was just relaxing with his strange Eevee. He gave a bit of a huff at that, going over to poke his best friends awake.

"You guys have fun without me?" He asked the two dryly, shaking his head at them.

"Did you get your PokéGear?" Ray asked from where he relaxed.

"Yeah, I got it, Mr. Lazybutt," Ion sassed back at him, rolling his eyes at the taller teen. "What were you asking about it for again earlier?

"Well, if you have the map, you won't get lost on the way to Cherrygrove, is what I assumed." Ray said with a shrug. "And if not, then I have much to learn of the Johto region."

"I can get to Cherrygrove in my sleep." Ion rolled his eyes at the taller teen. "It's where all the shops are, and my Pokémon can protect me from any of the wild ones living out there."

"Oh? So it's a straight shot then? Good." Ray stood up and stretched. "Then let's get going."

* * *

A few minutes into the walk, Ion (who had been walking ahead) suddenly stopped, and excitedly turned around and began yelling, "Hey! Ray! Ray! Ray! Guess what! RAY!"

Ray could already feel a slight twitch in his brow beginning. "What is it?" He asked, hoping the boy would stop shouting his name.

"THERE'S A PIDGEY!" The boy shouted back, turning around to dramatically point at a golden colored Pidgey sitting on a large rock ahead of them, one that was currently staring at him thanks to the young man spazzing out.

And after a few seconds of silence, the boy cheerfully said, "It's pretty."

"Yes, it's very pretty." Ray said, waving his hand. Then upon closer inspection, he noticed something odd. "Hang on... that's a shiny Pidgey. Quite a rare find, I must say. You are... oddly lucky, Ion."

"Really?" The boy asked excitedly, his face lighting up considerably. Shiny, or color changed Pokémon as they were sometimes called, were incredibly rare individuals, and were highly sought out. 'If you saw a shiny, then you catch it,' was the usual saying about them. But...

"I don't have any Poké Balls." The boy admitted suddenly, his bright expression fading into a gloomy one. That is, until he looked at Ray with big puppy dog eyes. "Can you catch it for me? So I know what to do for later."

Ray somehow very much doubted that Ion didn't know how to catch Pokémon. Every aspiring trainer knew. Then again, it was always good to have an example. "Very well then. Umbreon, come on." As Leafeon returned to its Poké Ball, Umbreon was released, and stepped forward, as though issuing a challenge to the Pidgey.

The Pidgey saw the challenge, and instantly it returned the challenge; it spread its wings wide and crowed loudly, before taking off into the air and flying high, circling over head for a bit, watching Umbreon with a careful eye.

Umbreon kept a careful eye on the circling Pidgey, obviously trying to figure out how to make its attack hit a moving, flying object. Ray also seemed in thought. He hadn't caught a flying pokemon as of yet, so this was a new experience for him. He had also heard that different colored Pokémon were slightly stronger than their normal counterparts. He looked up, and held up three fingers, which Umbreon saw, and gave a small nod in return. It seemed like they had a strategy in mind.

The Pidgey saw the planning between the two, and knew it had to be careful. After all, while any Pokémon by itself was dangerous, one commanded by a trainer could be even more so. They had an element of strategy to them that a wild Pokémon just didn't have.

Ion watched with bated breath, having never really seen a straight up battle, just little mock battles he'd have with his sister and their friends back home with their little Pokémon. To see one so close to him... He could feel his anticipation almost overwhelm him.

And then with a loud caw, the Pidgey suddenly dove down toward Umbreon at insane speeds, going far too fast for the human eye to detect, giving the dark canine a full body tackle.

And this is what Umbreon had been waiting for. He charged forward and took the hit, only to counter quickly with his confuse ray, which hopefully the Pidgey, now at close range, would be unable to dodge.

The Pidgey gave a loud caw, suddenly feeling a sense of vertigo and flailing to the ground, not knowing which way was up, down or even what his enemy was.

"Bite!" Came the call from Ray, which Umbreon quickly followed, attempting a bite on the Pidgey's wing while it was confused.

Another loud caw, this time of pain, came from the Pidgey, but it was far from over. Thanks to the bite attack, the Pidgey was no longer confused. It was in pain, but not confused. And it decided to repay that pain with more pain, giving a set of sharp peck attacks to the end of Umbreon's snout, right on his nose.

Umbreon quickly pulled back under the assault of the Pidgey. "Strategy four!" Ray shouted, and Umbreon quickly turned and threw up sand from its back paws at the Pidgey, and then charged through the sand with a tackle.

The Pidgey hadn't expected sand to be thrown at it, nor did it expect Umbreon to tackle it through the cloud of sand, and it felt itself vaulted through the air not under its own power, but it managed to catch and right itself in the air, turned to face Umbreon and began to flap its wings hard and fast, ignoring the pain in the wing Umbreon had locked in its bite as it did so, and summoned up a small tornado of air to fly at the dark canine.

Umbreon reacted more with the skill of a trained Pokémon than from a command Ray gave him. He ran out of the way and seemed to be thinking how to get the Pidgey out of the air. Without that, there was no way to catch it.

Pidgey kept on summoning one mini-tornado after another, not giving Umbreon an inch, knowing how dangerous it was now, especially under the command of that human, but it knew its time in the air was limited; its hurt wing was getting hard to ignore, especially after it was pushing it so much. It'd have to land soon, but knew it would be easy prey once it was on the ground... And it was sure that the human had more Pokémon to command, even if it did somehow manage to win.

But even now, it felt its injured wing grow tired and harder to flap, so it decided to bite the bullet; it would do one more attack and then it would be grounded. It would hopefully still stand a chance after that.

And once more, it sped at Umbreon at speeds the human eye couldn't follow, aiming to zip around and strike the dark canine from behind.

Umbreon managed to avoid most of the gusts, only being hit by one, but that one was followed by the Pidgey charging at him again. Instead of waiting for a command, Umbreon unleashed one of its newest moves, one it had practiced on its own, Assurance. Umbreon turned, and kicked out with its hind legs, attempting to hit the Pidgey before it hit him.

And hit Pidgey it did, knocking it silly and making it flip flop through the air. It had been going too fast to avoid that attack, and thanks to that it hadn't been able to dodge, and the combined force of both of their attacks knocked it unconscious for a few short moments as it flopped to the ground and lay unmoving except for its breathing.

And all throughout this, Ion had watched in awe. Even if this fight had been quite a bit more... savage than he'd thought it'd be like (And had been from the trainer battles he'd seen on TV), Umbreon and Ray had both handled themselves expertly. And even if Ion was entirely new to this, even he knew this was the moment to capture a Pokémon.

Ray immediately took out a Poké Ball, and threw it at the Pidgey, as though right on cue.

And the ball tapped the Pidgey, and instantly the ball opened as Pidgey was covered with red light, turned into energy and then flew into the ball, which closed firmly. The ball plopped onto the ground, and slowly began to shake from side to side, making a soft pinging sound with every shake.

Ray, despite the fact he only trained Eevees, was hoping he could catch this Pokémon for study and so as not get the evil eye from Ion for failing to catch a Pidgey.

Both trainers watched with baited breath as it shook once, twice...

* * *

Tatsu55 says: Well, I managed to pull myself together after last chapter's incident (do not speak of it, so no one gets destroyed) and here we come again! We're currently already written up to Violet City, but since there's a few side chapters that will happen there, we decided to upload some chapters in quick succession. So, after the events of chapters one and two, I'm sure you know who the main characters are, and if you don't then you didn't read the first chapter or this one, and thus you fail at life.

One sez: You tell 'em, Tats. :P Anyway, now that he's gotten the important stuff out of the way, here's something I should have clarified on in the first chapter. If anyone decides to send in a character, please tell me what they look like. ^_^; It's, uh, hard for me to envision a character unless you do. Even simple things like 'they have brown hair and wear a t-shirt' would help me out a lot. Also some of their motivations. I've gotten two submitted already, and one already has done that, while the other… Well, while I know who they are, what they want to catch, and their motivations, I don't know what they look like.

You know who you are.

Anyway, see ya'll later. I hope you had as much fun as I did. :D


	3. The errand

Chapter 3: The errand

(Uh… Some weird requirement that seems to appear in every Pokémon game, anime, manga…)

* * *

And on the third shake, there was the sound of a lock being set, and then the ball lay still.

Ion watched the ball for a few more seconds before he turned to Will and gave a loud cry, grinning widely, "That was AWESOME!"

Ray gave a slight sigh of relief, before walking over to pick up the Poké Ball. "That was how to catch a Pokémon, though usually they aren't that hard." He said, returning the grin with a slight smile of his own. "Status effects are your friend, and good strategies with your Pokémon help too."

"But you basically just beat another Pokémon into unconsciousness and then throw a ball at it, right?" Ion replied in a smart-alecky tone, rolling his eyes but still grinning. "I'm not that stupid, I know how to catch a Pokémon. I just didn't have any of the balls to do it. I said so before, remember?"

However, just because he knew how didn't mean he knew how to apply that knowledge. Seeing Ray do it was very, very useful for his future career.

Ray put the Poké Ball onto his belt. "Shall we continue? If we want to get to Mr. Pokémon's and back before nightfall, we've got to pick up the pace a little."

Aw, and Ion hoped for more conversation. Ray must have been discouraged by his quip. Ah well, it's not like they'd be together forever; Elm still had to study this guy's strange Eevee thing.

"Alright, sure, but it's not very far, Mr. Leader Man." Ion said, beginning to lead the way again. "And besides, it's not even noon yet! We have all the time in the world, and all Elm is going to do is hook up wires to your Eevee and the thing he wants us to go get anyway, so let's give them some time to be free, yeah?"

"Right... wait, wires?" Ray said, slightly put off by that comment. Rowan was certainly more conservative than Elm in his research approach, if that was the case. "Oh dear... that's not good. Leafeon will kill the professor if he tries to do that."

"Well, what else do scientist people do when they got something they wanna study? They put wires and stuff on it and 'check the readings'. TV says so," The boy nodded, having already long since accepted the TV fantasies to be reality. Except for the shows that basically proclaimed humanity to be complete and utter bastards, of course. Even he knew that simply wasn't true.

"You do know that more than half the stuff they show on that glowing box is false, right?" Ray asked apprehensively, taking an easy pace slightly behind Ion.

"If it isn't true, why do they show stuff on it? Like Captain Strong, Defender of the Universe from the super killer space alien zombie ninja pirate robot teams?" The last bit was clearly sarcastic, even Ion knew that was just a cartoon show. Only a true idiot would think it wasn't. He was just making conversation.

"Well... for entertainment. That's the only thing I can think of." Ray said with a shrug, though the sarcasm was not lost on him. "Wait... isn't that Cherrygrove up ahead? That really was short." Ray remarked.

"Cherrygrove is only ten minutes away on foot," Ion replied, shrugging slightly. "It always makes me wonder why Elm just never goes to see what Mr. Pokémon wants himself. I mean, he always sends his aides out to do it." He was silent for a moment, before pausing to let Ray catch up with him and then started walking with him, leaning over slightly to whisper to him, as if there were listening devices in the bushes. "I think he's lazy."

"Yeah, I'd say I have to agree with you on that point." Ray said, nodding.

"Hey, kids!" Came the voice of an old man, near the entrance. Ray and Ion ignored him as they continued to walk, even as the old man bean to trot after them, waving his arms wildly at them. After a few paces, however, he gave up, slumping over and huffing. "Young hoodlums… not even listening to the wisdom of an old man and… ZZZ…" His head drooped as he began to snore on his feet.

"How far is Mr. Pokémon's from Cherrygrove?" Ray asked, curiously.

"Well," Ion began, pulling out his PokéGear from his pocket and looking up the map function, "According to Elm, it's part way up to Violet City, and that's considerably a longer route. It'd probably take us a day on foot to travel all the way up there."

"Hmm... you think we could make the trip there and back tonight? Elm seemed pretty anxious to get his hands on that egg." Ray said, still unfamiliar with the layout of Johto.

"As I said, it's only part way up, we'd definitely be able to get there and back to New Bark Town before it even gets dark," Ion stated, hopping slightly, hoping to be able to release his Pokémon from their Balls soon. It seems he'd tired them out quite a bit before they'd left for Cherrygrove.

"Alright then." Ray said, as they walked through Cherrygrove. "Let me just make sure, you do know what a Pokémon Center and Pokémarts are, right?" It never hurt to check the little things, as every bit of knowledge that a trainer didn't know could cost them a battle they should have won.

"They're the places you go to for free cookies and muffins, right?" Ion asked innocently, looking up at Ray with big eyes.

"Uh... not exactly." Ray said, unsure whether or not Ion was joking with him. "The Pokémon center is where traveler's can rest for the night, and get their Pokémon healed. The reason people stay is because it takes a few hours for Pokémon to be fully healed by the machines they use. Pokémarts are where you can buy items. Right now, since neither you nor I have any badges, the items we can buy are limited due to the recent restrictions placed by the Pokémon league. Once you get more badges, you can buy a greater variety of better items."

"Well, I knew what those were," Ion began slowly, looking off to the side almost distractedly, "But I didn't know about those new restrictions by the Pokémon League. And here I was going to use my weekly allowance to buy a stock of Ultra Balls. Mmm."

At the end there, the smaller teen pouted; once more, his expectations were dashed. The world was out to get him, wasn't it?

"Well, if you know how to use them, Poké Balls work just as well as Ultra Balls." Ray said, shrugging. He felt like he had wasted his time explaining something, but Ion had gotten something out of it, so it evened out... sort of. "By the way, what route is this?" He asked, as they were now out of Cherrygrove city (Very quickly, he might add) and heading upward on a new path.

"Route 30. Mr. Pokémon lives here, up a branching path. I think most of the people in Cherrygrove kicked him out of their town because of some misdemeanor a few years ago." Ion's face scrunched up a little, trying to think up what it was exactly. "But he used to live there, and Johto was known for having two Pokémon Professors in two different towns unlike the other countries or... Something. I don't know, I think I wasn't paying attention in that class..."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that..." Ray uttered under his breath. But the man got a misdemeanor... what could that have been for? From the looks of that photo... maybe people were just annoyed with him.

Ion was about to say something before he noticed something about the path almost right in front of them (when they had turned the fork to the right) and his face screwed up in annoyance.

Just as he thought, the path had overgrown again. Long, tall blades of grass, far taller than him and up to Ray's chest now covered the route.

"What is it about grass that makes it grow back so fast in only a few days?" The boy asked absently, kicking the ground.

"I don't know, the grass in Sinnoh isn't nearly so overgrown." Ray said with a shrug. "If we push through it, we'll be at Mr. Pokémon's house, right? And if we run into any wild Pokémon, you or I can beat them."

Ion nodded absently, Knowing he wouldn't enjoy his trip through the tall grass. It was usually full of bugs and other little nasty things, and he had a feeling his allergies would be killing him as they went through it, but he knew he had to get through, so he resigned himself to his fate, and began to lead once again, pushing through the tall grass.

Ray followed, again at any easy pace. He found the best way to avoid most unnecessary encounters was to not rush headlong through tall grass or caves, but to walk calmly through.

After much trudging through the grass, with some Pokémon skittering around out of their way (Mostly being Caterpies and Weedles), they reached the other side of it to see a relatively small house, a humble looking thing. Though Ion really couldn't appreciate it as he had been sneezing his lungs out, and still was, covering his poor, sore nose with a hanky.

"I hate tall grass," The boy complained, sneezing once more to punctuate it.

"Allergies?" Ray asked. He had never had trouble with them, but he felt Ion's pain to the smallest of extents. "Well, at least we're here." He looked up at the house, and was glad to see that it looked normal. For some reason, he had been expecting the odd Mr. Pokémon's house to also look weird, like the inhabitant itself was. He went up to the door and knocked, glancing back to make sure Ion was coming.

"I hate tall grass," The boy repeated, following him.

"Yo yo, looks like I got a guest!" Came a voice from inside, which Ray could only guess belonged to Mr. Pokémon. The door opened, and an older man looked at the two. "So, you're the homeboys Elm sent to pick the package I found?"

"Yeah." Ray answered.

"Then come on in, G-boy, we've got a lot to talk about." Mr. Pokémon responded, stepping to the side. Ray entered, and immediately noticed there was one other person in the house.

Ion was quite a bit meeker than Ray, as he never really felt comfortable around Mr. Pokémon. It wasn't anything against the old man, but... He was just weird.

He noticed another older man sitting off to the side, sipping some tea from a mug and watching with some thinly veiled interest, but he wasn't speaking up so Ion immediately ignored him. He hid behind Ray, peeking out from behind him, and waited for the chance to be able to split.

"My main man Elm didn't come himself, and I thought I had something good to show for sure this time." Mr. Pokémon said, a slightly sad air to his odd words. "Ah well, I might as well give you the package you came for, and send ya back so he can enjoy." As he went over to the table, Ray looked over at the other man, and remembered where he had seen the man before.

"Aren't you Professor Oak? The original Pokédex maker?" Ray asked in surprise.

"Indeed I am, m'boy," the older gentleman smiled, sipping his tea, "I was just here visiting my friend Frederick, as he asked me to come by and look over his discovery. It is a pretty interesting find, I must say, and I have only seen one other thing like it in my life. It is an extremely rare find, but I'm sure Elm would enjoy it more, as his main focus of study is Pokémon Breeding."

And this would have interested Ion more if that weird Mr. Pokémon wasn't in the room, talking and walking in his weird way.

'Wait, his first name is Frederick?' The boy thought to himself, his face screwing up. 'Does this mean his last name really is 'Pokémon'? Man, his ancestors must have hated themselves or something...'

"By the way, G-boy," Mr. Pokémon said, which made Ray assume he was being talked to. "Your Eevee's color is whack, yo." Ray could feel his eye twitching, but he answered anyway.

"Yeah, my father found a new eeveelution. We call it Leafeon." Ray responded, unsure if this would spark a similar reaction he had gotten from Rowan and Elm.

"Hm," Oak hummed, finishing his tea and quickly, and then got up from where he sat, heading over to Ray and bending down to look at Leafeon - looking, but not touching. "So, this is the Pokémon that Rowan was smug about, was it?" He asked, looking her over.

"I don't know if he was smug about it, but yeah, this is her. You got his warning about her biting, then?" Ray asked, crouching down and giving her a light pat on the head.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pokémon Approached Ion, Holding the egg with utmost care. "Yo yo young dude, grab this package and stash it in your safe bag, yeah?"

"Right..." Ion said, sounding a little uncomfortable being around the strange man, but none the less he took the egg carefully and was surprised at the feeling of it almost jumping in his hands, staring at it in surprise. But then he shrugged and put it in his duffel bag, careful to put it on some of his softer stuff, and closed it back up.

"Indeed. Eevees tend to be particular about who they want touching them," Oak smiled, giving the new Eeveelution one last look over and then standing back up. "Anyway, m'boy, who is this young man you brought with you?" He turned to Ion at that, raising an eyebrow at him.

"He's Ion, Professor Elm's newest prospect." Ray said, introducing Ion for the Professor.

"Oh? So I take it he's chosen his new start-"

"I don't like any of them," Ion suddenly repeated stubbornly, interrupting the old man, and making both his eyebrows rise questioningly.

"Hm," Oak hummed once more.

Ray sighed. "We got sent on this errand to give Ion time to consider which of them he should choose so he gets his trainer license."

"Ah, I see," Oak nodded slightly, before turning back to Ion once more, who went back to being meek. "So, Ion, why do you not like them?"

The boy, at first, didn't really have a good answer for that question. I mean, even he knew his initial reasoning was illogical; yeah, it was an easy third Pokémon for him, and he felt like he was being forced to pick one, but really, it just sounded like the temper tantrum of a spoiled child...

"The blue jerkgator bit me." The boy finally managed to say, turning his eyes away with a slight blush of embarrassment appearing on his cheeks, his expression stubborn.

"Well then," Oak laughed softly, shaking his head. "Does this mean the other two are bad by association, or did they also attack you in any way?"

"No..." The boy admitted, his embarrassment getting worse.

"So do you hate them by association?"

"No!" The boy replied, looking up at Oak with surprise. "Hating a Pokémon just because of association or because it did something bad isn't a good thing! I just don't want to feel like I'm being forced to choose!"

Oak was silent for a moment, looking calmly down at the boy after his outburst, and Ion felt his embarrassment grow worse. And then, after a minute of silence, Oak said, "Which element do you like best? Water, Grass or Fire?"

"Fire, I guess..." Ion said softly, meekly, fidgeting somewhat. Why was he feeling like he was under a microscope?

"Then your choice should be obvious. Fire Pokémon are rather rare, so outside of a starter, you'd have to purposefully go out looking for one if you want to find one later. And Cyndaquil is a rather useful Fire type," Oak began, starting to fish for something in his pocket.

Ion looked thoughtfully at the floor, his mouth tugging in a frown as he thought it over, as Oak continued, "And besides, it must have made those Pokémon sad to hear their prospective trainer say he doesn't like them, they may have mistaken it as something you didn't like about them."

"But that's not the reason..." Ion said softly, looking somewhat horrified. He hadn't thought about that, and now that it had been brought to his attention, he felt horrible. He didn't want any of them to feel unwanted, even if he was being forced to choose one. It was like being adopted by someone and being unwanted by just about everyone else.

Oak nodded, smiling at the boy's understanding. "I know, and while I don't like having to tell a trainer they need to take a Pokémon they may not exactly want or planned to get, I also have to take the Pokémon's wants into consideration myself. Sometimes they may want a trainer, sometimes they may not. They may want to fight in Pokémon battles, they may not. But either way, it's always best to make them feel welcome, even if either side may not want the other. And you love your own Pokémon enough to do so, don't you?"

"Yes." Ion replied quietly, looking very embarrassed and slightly angry with himself.

"Good. Now, don't you have something you need to do? Besides returning the egg to Elm, that is." Oak asked, looking pleased the boy was seeing reason.

"Yeah, I do," Ion responded, though still quiet, thoughtful, embarrassed and angry with himself. He knew how his high energy made people look at him, and he remembered being lonely before he was befriended by Lyra and Ethan, how unwanted he had felt by the world. And now he'd potentially made three little Pokémon looking forward to a kind trainer feel unwanted. And he felt horrible about that.

"Then go on, boy-G." Said Mr. Pokémon, who despite his odd wording, was being kind. "You don't have anything left to do with us old farts."

Ray had watched this entire conversation silently, surprised that Oak had been able to make Ion, who was such a stubborn, sarcastic little idiot (as was his first impression), realize his mistake. He suddenly realized just how wise, or perhaps how experienced the professor was with not just Pokémon, but people as well. However, this surprise didn't last at Mr. Pokémon's words, and for once, he had to stifle a chuckle at them. He didn't want to seem disrespectful, after all.

And Ion nodded at the old men, suddenly determined, but before he could begin the trek back to New Bark, Professor Oak suddenly handed him a strange, red device that he had been fishing for inside his pocket. He looked at it for a moment, a strange PDA looking device, before he realized what it was, and then looked up in amazement at the older man.

"I see what Elm may have seen in you, young man," Oak gave the boy a wink, "And I believe in it, too. I think with the help of this Pokédex, you may become something great. And don't worry, you won't be, ahem, 'forced' to capture any Pokémon you may not want to catch just because I'm giving you this. Just get the ones you feel you need."

The boy's face lit up at that encouragement, and nodded with gracious appreciation, he took the offered device in his hands and gently placed it in his shirt pocket, patted it, and gave the older man a smile.

"Thank you." He said, before turning to Ray and nodding at him. "I'm ready to go now, Mr. Ray."

"Just Ray, we're the same age after all." Ray said, waving his hand nonchalantly. He was becoming quite interested in Ion himself, with two of the four best known professors saying he had great potential; there must be something about him. "I'm ready as well. Thank you both for your time." Ray said, bowing.

"Don't mention it, G-boy. We cool." Mr. Pokémon said, making that same odd gesture Ray had seen in the Picture, but this time with both hands.

* * *

It was only a few minutes into their walk back to Cherrygrove (After they had once again cleared the long grass that caused Ion's allergies to act up, the poor boy still sneezing), when suddenly Ion's PokéGear began ringing. This surprised him as he had been inspecting his Pokédex (after all, while he may not like studying, it was kind of cool to hear stuff about any species of Pokémon he may not have known from a talking box with this most awesome sounding computerized voice), and he nearly dropped that gift, sneezing once more.

He pulled out his Gear, and looked at the caller ID of the person contacting him, and saw it was professor Elm. The boy sighed and rolled his eyes, mumbling, "Why is he calling? He knows it takes some time to get here and back..."

Ray shrugged. "You might as well see what he wants. If it's another errand, better we hear about it now rather then when we get back to his lab, right?"

"Right, sure, I'll put it on speaker phone so you can hear, too," Ion shrugged back, pushed a few buttons on it, and then answering the call.

Before the boy could even speak, Elm's voice crackled through it, sounding quite panicked, "Oh, dear, um, Ion! It's horrible!"

Ray scratched his head, looking confused, Ion mirroring that confusion with a slight frown (and sneezing again, too). "What is?" The younger of the two asked.

"Well I... It's just... Hurry up and get back here!" The professor's distressed voice rang through, before the call ended abruptly.

* * *

Tatsu55 says: Hey all! I just wanted to mention that in this chapter our characters meet Mr. Pokémon. He starts you on your journey in a way, and yet he NEVER APPEARS AGAIN. Therefore, I wanted to make his character as eccentric as possible, and now that he is, we've planned more appearances for him. Hope you all liked this chapter!

One sez: Well, actually, you COULD go visit Mr. Pokémon again after you get the Red Scale, but all you really do is trade it for an EXP. Share. But I think just about everyone knows that now. But if you didn't, hey, at least you learned something new. :D As Tatsu said, though, I think there will be more appearances of Mr. Pokémon in this story now. Even if he's a horribly insensitive racial stereotype of black people (and without being black, too), it's still a source of humor. An unfortunate source, but I hoped you laughed anyway. ^.^;

And if not, kick Tatsu. He's the one who decided to make him like that.

Actually, now that I think about it, Mr. Pokémon, in most fanfics based on Gold and Silver, tend to make him a strange character, but then throw him away anyway; even when he could have been just as interesting, or even more so, than the main characters. o.o Weird that works, huh


	4. The first rival battle

Chapter 4: The first rival battle

(Because it always happens, you _can't_ deny it.)

* * *

Ray looked at Ion, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "What do you suppose happened?"

Ion's face was blank before he shrugged, starting the walk back to Cherrygrove. "He probably made hot pockets explode in his microwave again. That guy can't cook anything to save his life, he somehow set a bowl of cereal on fire just by adding milk."

Ray was utterly nonplussed by that comment. Not only was it illogical, but that a professor of Pokémon didn't know how to cook? Didn't they go on long excursions into the wild regions in search of Pokémon and whatnot? Did Elm buy his lunches at the Pokémarts? Weird...

And then a blur smacked right into Ray, and both he and the person that ran into Ray fell to the ground. And the person who ran into him immediately jumped to his feet, steaming mad, and shouted, "Oi! Watch where yer goin', ya git! Don't just be standing the middle o' the road like that!"

Ray got himself up, brushing off his clothes. This man was already annoying him, and not just because his mouth moved faster than his words, but because he was being accused of standing around? "We were walking too, you know." Ray replied calmly, though the tiniest hint of anger could be heard behind his words.

"Oh, yeah, walkin' as fast as molasses in January," The other boy huffed arrogantly. "You shouldn't 'o been walkin' in the middle 'o the road with that slow speed! Stay off to the side- 'Ey!"

He shouted that last part when Ion just shoved past him, nearly sending him on his butt again.

"You're worse than a Sunday driver," Ion stated plainly, making the new kid mutter angrily at his back.

"OY!" Came a shout from the direction of Cherrygrove, as a new figure appeared, soon catching up to Ion, Ray, and the new guy. "I told you to wait up!" Glancing at the two others, his face fell. "And who the (donkey) are you losers?"

Ray was perfectly fine just leaving these two idiots to their comedy routine, and began to walk towards Cherrygrove without a word.

"Oi, sorry boss, but we wanted to-" Before the other kid could finish what he was going to say, Ion whirled around and glared at the newest person among them.

"Oh, yeah, I'm the loser just for walking back to town, minding my own business, when some motor mouth idiot runs into my friend and starts accusing him of being rude when he's the rude idiot!" The boy snapped, pulling down his eyelid, blowing a raspberry, hmphing and then turning around to walk after Ray once more.

And 'motor mouth' was steaming in rage once more.

"I called you losers because that's what you looked like." The new arrival said, his red eyes narrowing in disgust as he looked at Ion. "I bet you don't even have good Pokémon yet."

And Ion took the bait, turning back and sticking his tongue out at the taller teen. "Shows how much you know, rude idiot, I got two good Pokémon and they're my best friends in the whole wide world. Not that you have any. Mneh."

"Hey, the boss has me!" 'Motor mouth' protested.

"As I said, not that you have any."

"... Oi, (mankey) you, git."

"Aren't you that Ponce loser I trounced a few weeks ago?" Came Ray's calm voice, having been forced to turn by the constant bickering Ion was engaging in. The motor mouthed kid finally took a good look at him, and also seemed to recognize the brown haired teen, judging by the angry look that came to the motor mouth's face. "No offense, but I suggest you move along before we make you."

"Oi," He shouted, a bit too loudly perhaps, "Yer that git that cheated me out of that tournament to get a rare egg!"

"So you're strong then?" Said the red head, an odd smirk spreading across his face. "You might be worth fighting then."

"Please, you couldn't handle Ion right now, let alone me." Ray dismissed him out of hand, causing the kid to turn that smile into a frown. Ion looked somewhat angered by that comment, himself, and as he raised a finger at the older boy, ready to retort at him, Ponce interrupted that with a sudden, barking laugh.

"Yeah, well, _I_ got stronger, I have, and I bet I can beat your sorry Eevee (Gifarig) now, (chompy)!" Ponce grabbed a Poké Ball off his belt, enlarged it and readied himself to throw it. "Meet my new Pokémon! Go, Chikorita!"

The ball flew into the air and popped open, white energy flying to the ground and forming into the little sauropod-like Grass type, who shook its head, blustering, then looked out... And saw Ion, its eyes widening. And Ion recognized it, too.

"That's one of Elm's starters!" Ion said in surprise, eyes wide. "How the hell did you get it?"

The red haired boy smirked. "You don't need to know. But you're both going down. Go Totodile!" He cried, throwing a ball that released the same jerkgator that had bit Ion hours before.

Ray sighed. "A double battle, is it?" He gave the slightly younger boy a glance. "Ion, will you work with me? I doubt it's smart to fight them both alone." He took out a Poké Ball and released Umbreon, which jumped to the front line ready for battle.

"Uh, sure," Ion said uncertainly. This was going to be his first real battle? Against two rude idiots that bumped into them and had two of his local professor's Pokémon? And the jerkgator was 'grinning' at him, showing off its teeth once more.

He took his own ball out, knowing that Mortimer would'nt have a good time against a Grass and Water type, so he sent out Nabel, his baby Kangaskhan.

"Oi!" Ponce recoiled, looking at the rare Pokémon with surprise. "Oi, boss, ya see that? That git got a Kangaskhan! Those lil' (Beluga) be tough!"

The mysterious boy did look shocked to see the baby Pokémon, but immediately recovered. "That doesn't mean that it's strong." He retorted. "Totodile! Water gun that Kangaskhan!"

Totodile obeyed, breathing deep and letting out a gurgling sound as it began to gather up water from its belly.

"Umbreon take the hit!" Ray shouted, and Umbreon jumped in front of Ion's Pokémon as Totodile spat his attack, taking the pressurized jet of water in the other's place.

Ion winced, especially when Ponce gained some courage and ordered his Pokémon, "Use Poison Powder on that Umbreon, Chikorita! Take out that Kangaskhan's defender!"

Chikorita let out a bark and waved its head leaf, sending a cloud of purple, poisonous powder at the dark canine, which covered its skin thickly, coagulating thanks to the remnants of the Water Gun.

Ion panicked for a moment, and he decided to use a random move as he knew he didn't have any ones that were super effective against these things, "Nabel, use Fake Out!"

The baby Pokémon leapt over Umbreon and dashed at Chikorita and Totodile, and with its large arms, smashed their heads together and then jumped away, leaving both dazed (And Chikorita looked a little ill now, for some reason).

"Umbreon, you alright?" Ray asked, and Umbreon gave a little nod, though obviously the poison was beginning to take effect. Ray looked over at Ponce, and allowed a smirk when he saw the rude teen's confusion over Chikorita's sudden bout of sickness. "By the way Ponce," He said, getting the other boy's attention, who glared at him, "you seem to have forgotten my Umbreon's ability." At the confused look his scowl became, Ray clarified, "Synchronization; all status effects on a Pokémon with this ability are transferred to the other Pokémon as well." Ray couldn't help the way his smirk transformed into what Ion thought was a creepy slasher's smile at the dawning comprehension on Ponce's face. "In other words; You poisoned him, and now your Chickorita is poisoned as well."

"… (Hitmonlee)." The other boy cursed.

Ray pointed at the Chikorita in such an epic way Ion couldn't help by stare, surprised. "Now, Umbreon! Use Assurance!" Umbreon growled, and charged forward before giving the Chikorita a powerful kick to the face. Since it had already been hit by the Kangaskhan, and the poison had been wreaking havoc on the little sauropod this entire time, it fainted dead-way.

The red head kid now knew for sure that this guy was strong, or at the very least knowledgeable. "Totodile! Bite the Umbreon!" While dazed, his Totodile heeded the order and ran over, giving a painful bite Umbreon on the leg, making it whimper in pain. Umbreon, however, kicked out with its other leg and smashed it into the front of Totodile's muzzle, making it release the dark canine's leg, holding its nose in pain.

Ion was a little more confident now that he saw that they were winning, even if he was worried about Ray's Umbreon (it had battled earlier and they hadn't been able to stop at a Pokémon Center yet), he put it to the side for now; he pointed at the Totodile and ordered, "Use Comet Punch, Nabel!"

The Kangaskhan let out what would have been a roar if she had been older, but sounded more like a baying at this time, and hopped over to Totodile, which tried to back away, still holding its nose, but couldn't get away fast enough; he was met with a barrage of punches to the face, and he stumbled as he was knocked around. An uppercut to his jaw sent him flying head over heels to land at the red haired kid's feet, and it took him a moment to stand up again, shaking his head clear of stars.

Ponce had been in shock since he saw his Chikorita get trounced so easily, bested by a Pokémon that looked like it'd seen battle earlier in the day and thus _should_ have been tired… He shook his surprise off, growling, and returning his new Pokémon to her Poké Ball.

And then he pulled his other ball out from a pocket in his shirt, crying out, "Go and kick that git's (treasure), Riolu!"

Summoned to the field was the strange little bipedal canine, and he hopped around a bit, looking around with the excitement of a puppy.

"Use Force Palm on that Umbreon and bring it down!" The trainer ordered.

The little dog charged, its hand pulled back to give the dark canine a powerful strike to its face, a rather determined look on its adorable face.

Umbreon took the hit, being too stubborn and sick from the poison powder to move much anymore, and was sent flopping over into a tree from the force of it. With a cry, he collapsed to the ground and Ray returned him to his Poké Ball.

"Good shot," He began, pulling his second Ball of his belt, "but I'm sure you haven't forgotten my next choice. Espeon, come on!" Out popped Ray's second Pokémon, her majestic split tail moving back and forth.

"Oi! That's not how it works, git!" Ponce protested, stomping his foot angrily. Why did it have to be that stupid little purple cat? It was what that kid had cheated with before.

"Use Confusion on the Totodile!" Ray cried, and the Totodile, which was still trying to recover, got blasted onto its back once again, this time thanks to psychic force, and didn't get back up.

This caused the red haired kid to growl, returning the tired gator back to its Ball.

"Go Cyndaquil!" He cried, throwing a second Ball, and Ion really, really hoped it wasn't the same Cyndaquil... "Cyndaquil, Ember that Kangaskhan!"

The little firemouse obeyed, spitting a ball of flame at the 'little' kangaroo-like Pokémon, and she took it right to the chest, letting out a loud baying in pain in reaction as her fur was set on fire.

Ion winced once more, looking worriedly as his baby girl hissed in pain at the flames dancing on her, but shook his head rapidly. He shouldn't be freezing up like this!

Since there were now Pokémon out that wouldn't take out Mortimer easily, he yelled out, "Nabel, return!"

Nabel looked at him for a moment, but then ran back over to his side (And began rolling around on the ground to put the flames on her out) as Ion pulled another ball off of his belt, and sent out his little Cubone buddy.

Ponce winced at another of their Pokémon going down, scowling much like his 'Boss' was now. This wasn't going in their favor…

"(Bubble), whatever!" He shouted, before pointing at Espeon, "Riolu, Quick Attack that Espeon!"

"Espeon, Confusion!" Ray shouted in reply.

The young pooch thing blurred over at Ray's freshly sent out Pokémon, and struck him as hard as he could. Or would have, if it wasn't suddenly lifted and thrown several feet back, flat on its face.

"Ion, take out that Riolu first!" Ray told his companion. "We'll worry about Cyndaquil afterwards!"

Red hair's face fell angrily at that comment, thinking the older boy wasn't taking him seriously. "Cyndaquil! Tackle that Espeon!"

Cyndaquil obviously didn't like that order, looking back at the boy uncertainly, but the scowl she received in return sent her running at the larger cat-like Pokémon which, of course, only looked on in vague amusement.

Ion didn't listen to Ray, instead pointing at the Cyndaquil that was rushing at his friend's Pokémon, "Mortimer, use Bone Club on that Cyndaquil!"

The little theropod-like Ground type jumped in front of Espeon, and waited, his club positioned like a baseball player's bat in his hands. The Cyndaquil stubbornly didn't change direction, just kept running at them, and so Mortimer just smashed his club into the little firemouse's head, sending her flying into the air to crash into the ground at the red haired kid's feet.

"Oh, (Magicks)," Ponce was the first on the other side to process that, wincing harshly. He knew what this meant, and damnit, the odds were definitely NOT in their favor now. These both had Pokémon that were super effective against theirs.

Riolu stood shakily at last, the fighting type weakness to psychic types making that Confusion attack hit it a little more harshly than normal, but it tried to carry out its master's last order again; rushing at Espeon and Mortimer at blinding speed.

"Espeon, Sand Attack!" Ray cried, and Espeon complied, throwing sand into the Riolu's face and blinding it, making it skid into a tree trunk way off course, and then adding its Confusion again without waiting for an order, blasting it into the tree even harder. Riolu was a tough little thing, however, and got back up, rushing at the purple cat once more.

Red hair thought for a moment as this went on, before deciding another Tackle was out of the question as Ponce shouted an obscenity into the evening air. "Cyndaquil, use Ember!" It wasn't that he thought it would be effective, but getting clubbed again would do him no good.

The little firemouse shook her head, getting rid of the stars flashing before her eyes, got back up shakily, and began to run around, blasting fire at the one who struck her. Mortimer, however, began to dance around those attacks in reply, sometimes even batting the fireballs away from him with his club, all just to mock her. And his plan to get her angry was working, judging by how the flame on her back was starting to flare up.

Ion couldn't help biting his lip as he watched this fight. This was all a little more violent than the mock-battles he had with his friends, and while he knew it would be, he hadn't expected this level of violence. He wasn't sure if he wanted this battle to go on, but would these two rude idiots leave it be if he and Ray decided they didn't want to fight anymore? And speaking of Ray… Well, he and his Pokémon were both being so awesome and scary at the same time, Ion didn't know what to make of him.

He shook his head; however, seeing Riolu wasn't giving up either; so Ion decided to give the teamwork thing a try. "Use Headbutt, Mortimer!" He called, and at once, his little buddy turned his back to the Cyndaquil (making her even angrier), lowered its skull covered head and charged at the blindly rushing Riolu, and there was a loud cracking sound as skull helm met normal bone, and Riolu was sent tumbling back, holding its head, whimpering. While not knocked unconscious, it was injured enough now to be unable to battle, and Ponce knew it, as he started cursing up a storm as he returned his little puppy thing.

However, Mortimer couldn't dodge the Ember attack heading for his back, letting out a short scream of surprise and pain as he had stumbled around slightly, dazed, from the force Riolu had put into its Quick Attack.

Yagami smiled an almost feral smile, seeing the attack order pay off. "Cyndaquil, use Ember again! Get that Cubone once more!"

The Cyndaquil obeyed that order with relish, spitting a larger than average fire ball in Mortimer's direction, and his eyes widened when he turned back to the only opponent left on the field.

That was, decidedly, not good.

But Ray was ready. "Espeon, take that hit, and then use Helping hand!" Espeon complied to the order, jumping in front of Mortimer protectively and getting struck with the giant ball of flame. And though the fire burned, the next move was also made. She and Mortimer began to glow in concert as she concentrated, aid being provided to all Cubone's battle powers.

Ion had an idea on what to do now, and he smiled a very malicious smile at the red haired boy who seemed to realize what was going on much faster than Ponce, by his look of growing dread. The boy pointed in what he thought was an epic pose (and was unintentionally copying Ray from earlier) at the Cyndaquil, "Mortimer, finish it with a Bone Club!"

The Cubone let out a war cry as he lifted his club over his head with both his hand, charging as quickly as his little legs took it. He then jumped high into the air, coming down at the little firemouse with a crazed look in his eyes, leaving the little creature to freeze in fear... And then there was a loud crack as bone club met skull, and she was sent flying back into her trainer, knocking him over.

"Boss!" Ponce cried, immediately by the red haired kid's side and trying to help him up.

He let out a sound of annoyance as he stood with the help of his accomplice, glaring at their opponents. "We've wasted too much time with these losers." The kid said, the scowl on his face worsening. "Let's get moving." Before he turned, however, he tossed the Poké Ball of the fainted Cyndaquil down to the ground, and then crushed it under his heel.

"What a useless monster." He all but spat, and dashed off in the direction of Violet City, Ponce right behind him.

Ray half wanted to give chase to the odd pair, but... "Let's get this Cyndaquil back to Professor Elm's. We should also make sure the professor's okay."

"But what about that Chikorita and..." Ion paused for a moment in his protest before scowling. "Okay, he can keep the jerkgator; they're perfect for each other. But that Chikorita doesn't deserve a trainer like that foulmouthed motor man!"

He did go over to pick up the unconscious Cyndaquil, however, looking rather concerned about it (Maybe that last attack had been too much?) and noticed something strange near where the red haired kid had been on the ground. It looked like he'd dropped something when he'd landed on his butt...

Ray was already there and had picked up the item; a trainer's ID, and the taller teen was reading it with a scowl. "Looks like that little (apple) dropped his trainer card." Ray said. "Apparently, his name is Yagami." He gave a sigh, shrugging. "Well, he and Ponce made quite a bad team, though apparently a good enough one to steal the Professor's Pokémon..."

"And what about Chikorita?" Ion asked, concerned. Ray had ignored him about it and he really didn't like the thought of leaving her alone with those two. The poor thing was probably terrified!

Nabel and Mortimer were by his side, looking with concern at their previous opponent. Now that he wasn't with those bad trainers, he was no longer the enemy. And Mortimer felt a little guilt, like Ion thinking he overdid it with that last Bone Club, perhaps.

"I doubt there's anything we can do about it right now." Ray said, also slightly concerned about it. "They say that Pokémon raised by bad people become bad themselves, I can only hope that it's just a rumor." Ray scratched his head. "I could go on ahead to Violet city and try to catch them, but at the very least you should head back to New Bark Town. Check on the Professor and your family. We don't know how those two got the Pokémon, so..."

Now that Ray mentioned it, Elm HAD called, and if they had stolen those Pokémon from Elm, then who knows what they could have done in his hometown? The desire to run back to town (After getting these Pokémon to a Center really quick for healing, that is) was almost as overpowering as getting the Chikorita back, but...

"Well, let's go back to lab first, just in the case these aren't the same ones," Ion didn't really believe they weren't the same ones, but they could be different, as there were several others of the same species', right?

So then... Why had they seemed to recognize him, and he them?

"Alright, let's do that then." Ray said, starting to jog towards Cherrygrove. "Well, at least we got the Cyndaquil back, that's something to be happy about." He said, glancing back at Ion, hoping the young boy wasn't too depressed.

"Yeah..." Ion took pace beside Ray easily after returning his Pokémon, looking with concern down at Cyndaquil's unconscious form in his arms. If these were the same Pokémon, then he wouldn't be able to apologize to Chikorita as well... And the thought depressed him.

* * *

Elm paced back and forth in front of a rather bored looking officer Jenny, looking up at the clock every so often anxiously. He had been waiting for an hour for those two to return after he called them, and they still hadn't come back yet. Lyra and Ethan he had sent out already, to both look for the two missing kids and to get back his starters from those perpetrators.

Where were they! It normally didn't take Ion this long. Had he been eaten by a Rhydon? If so his mother was going to kill him, and she wouldn't make it swift, oh no, she'd make sure to do it sloooowly and with a steady hand, smiling cheerfully as she cut him piece by piece by piece...

"Professor," A familiar voice, one he recognized as Ion, and his heart jumped with joy. His mother wasn't going to kill him now! "We're back!"

"Yo, professor Elm!" Came a second slightly tired call from a voice that could only be taken as that of Ray's. Then the door opened, and in came the two, looking slightly put out, but also glad that the professor was okay.

Elm rushed over to them, his face lit up, and immediately he grabbed Ion's shoulders and began shaking him. "You had me so worried! Why didn't you immediately return!"

"Weeee raaaan innnntoooo trooooublllle," Ion jittered through the shaking, his eyes turning into comical swirls.

"Yeah, we did, but what happened professor? You didn't explain yourself over the phone, so we didn't know what was so terrible..." Ray trailed off as Elm gave him a dark look.

"I'll tell you, my boy, but it isn't pleasant." He sighed, releasing Ion's shoulders to let the small boy stumble, dazed. Elm adjusted his glasses before he went on, "The three starter Pokémon were stolen while I was in the restroom a little while ago. Sudowoodo apparently heard a noise outside. When he went to check on it, those little devils snuck in and stole my Pokémon!"

Ray clenched his fist. "So it was them. The reason we took so long is because they forced us into a Pokémon battle."

"Huuuuuuuu-whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!" The Professor shouted far more manically than Ion had ever acted, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull at them... And if Ion hadn't been so dizzy, he'd have been disturbed by this. "You _fought_ them! Did you get any of the starters back? Any at all!"

"Only the Cyndaquil, sir..." Ion said, leaning against Ray so he wouldn't fall to the floor.

Ray propped up the slightly younger boy. "Yeah, they left it behind. Unfortunately sir, it looks like the other two are registered on their Pokémon trainer cards now. The only reason the Cyndaquil wasn't is because her trainer destroyed her Poké Ball."

"Oh dear, that's not good at all." The professor said, biting his nail in a habitual fashion. "If that is the case, there might not be much we can do for them. And here I've been offered the assistance of Officer Jenny and everything..."

"And I was so sure these two had been the ones," The blue haired female officer sighed to herself, still sounding bored. If those other two Pokémon had been registered as theirs, there wasn't much she could do to return them, but she could arrest the trainers. And she had been sure these two boys had been the ones. Now she was going to have to devote valuable man-hours looking for those other two, man-hours she could use catching up on her sleep and various little hobbies.

"And what about the Cyndaquil, has it been registered on anyone?" Elm asked, looking anxiously at them. Ion winced before speaking up, his voice hesitant.

"Um, me, sir... They wouldn't let me leave it for healing at the Pokémon Center until I had it registered under my name with a Poké Ball Ray gave me."

"Is she with you right now?" Elm asked, looking eager for some reason. Ion guessed he was probably remembering why he'd sent the two of them out in the first place.

"She's still at the Center, sir." Ion said, beginning to fidget.

"Then my boy, I'm afraid that you have no choice but to take Cyndaquil as your starter Pokémon. Not that you'd have had a choice, with the other two being pokenapped and all... is it still to your distaste to take her?" Elm asked, looking curiously at Ion, who seemed slightly more informed than last he was here.

Ion bit his lip, shaking his head. He really didn't have anything about the Pokémon themselves, he didn't feel like being forced to pick one, but he'd had to pick this one in order to heal it. It still had yet to wake up, but he hoped to apologize to her when she woke up.

"I'll take Cyndaquil, sir." He said, managing a small smile.

And now that he thought about it, he could have effectively cheated the system if he'd recovered the other two from those trainers, and the thought made him guilty, but then he wouldn't have had to choose.

"Very well then, I have a question for you boys." Said Officer Jenny, approaching the two of them. "Did you happen to get their names?"

Ray gave a snort of slight amusement. "Yes, one of them is an idiot from Sinnoh. His name is Ponce. His starter Pokémon is Riolu. The other one I didn't know, but he did drop his Trainer ID." Ray shuffled through his pockets, and pulled it out. "His name is Yagami, and he has the Totodile. Ponce has the Chickorita."

"Thank you." Officer Jenny said. "Well then Professor, I must get going. We'll try to catch them before they get too far."

"Thank you." Professor Elm answered, and watched the officer leave. "Now, I know this sounds a bit callous, but do you have that egg Mr. Pokémon gave to you? I'd very dearly like to see it."

Ray shrugged, but was glad the mood was turning towards a more positive note.

"Um, yeah." Ion murmured, digging into his duffel bag and pulling the strange egg (that once more seemed to move in his hands) out and handing it over to Elm.

"Huuuuuuuu-whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!" Elm's eyes popped out of his head once more at the egg, and Ion was disturbed that time, so disturbed he hid behind Ray with a squeak. "This is what he wanted me to look at! This is it?"

"Yes it is, sir." Ray answered, managing a smile despite the professor's odd reaction.

"This is indeed a type of Pokémon egg I have never seen before." Elm said, curiously looking at it from different angles. "You don't mind if I take it, do you Ion? I would like to begin my study of it as soon as possible."

"Er, go ahead?" Ion squeaked from behind Ray, not coming out from his hiding place. "The entire purpose of getting it was to give it to you..."

"Oh yes, yes, of course," Elm looked a little embarrassed, before clearing his throat. "Oh, by the way, you may want to go back to your house and pack up before you leave... Your mother might be worried about you, of course."

"Right..." Ion chuckled nervously, inching out of the lab. Elm could be a little weird, but reacting like that? He'd never seen it before.

"Hmm... Ion, how about you meet me at the edge of town? I think I'll head for Violet city myself, so we might as well stick together until then." Ray said, ignoring Ion's nervous movements.

"Right, uh, actually, wanna meet mom? Told her I was running an errand with a new guy and my parents got curious about you," Ion replied, still inching out of the lab, smiling nervously.

"Eh, I think I'll just wait near the edge of town." Ray shook his head at the offer. As much as he'd have liked to, if they were anything like Ion he could go without the headaches. "If you're taking the Pokémon League challenge you won't be seeing them for a good while. Make sure you wish them good health, alright?"

"Um, right, I'll do that. See you soon!" And with that, Ion raced out of the lab, leaving Ray and a distracted Elm behind.

"Professor Elm, what do you know about the gyms in Johto?" Ray asked, turning to the researcher.

"Hmm... well people say that Johto gyms are in the middle. Sinnoh is known for some of the toughest challenges; Kanto for its leaders; Hoenn for its travel time; and Johto is sort of in the middle of all that." Elm said, bending over the egg.

"I see. Do you think Ion can manage on his own?"

"Ha, he's a good boy, if a bit naive and thickheaded." Elm chuckled, shaking his head. "I think he'll do just fine, though perhaps it will take him a while to get used to the world of trainers. Unlike you, who have helped professor Rowan and your father in research since birth, Ion has lived here most his life, never getting into fights or dealing with rough crowds."

"I see." Ray said, running one hand through his brown hair. "Well, since I'm in Johto, I may as well test their gyms before I decide whether to stay or head back to Sinnoh."

"Yes, you should do that." Elm said, and Ray could tell that the professor was no longer paying attention. With a small shrug and a shake of the head, he left the lab.

* * *

Ion was finally beginning to tire out after a day of running around, and it was beginning to show. He was panting heavily when he finally made it home, but he didn't stop to get a drink of water; he immediately headed for his room and began to finish preparing to leave his home and lifestyle behind him for a few months at the very least…

Grabbing the last of his camping gear, his duffel back near bursting after he put in his sleeping bag, he let himself rest for a moment. He began to make his way to his the kitchen, and saw his family gathered there, sitting at the table. They seemed to be discussing something (well, his parents at least, his sister was eating mac & cheese), however they all looked up at him as soon as he entered the room, and all noticed he was packed, ready and rather tired looking.

His mother was on her feet immediately, and he found himself on the end of a tearful hug from her before he could react. He almost felt like struggling for a moment, but that moment passed and he just let it happen. "Oh Ion, my little boy, you're really going to leave, aren't you?" She practically sobbed, and Ion couldn't help but inwardly roll his eyes. It wasn't like he didn't plan to come back… Eventually.

"Yeah Mom, I am. But I'll call and write!" He insisted when it looked like she was going to let out a wail.

His father was shaking his head, standing up and going to pry his wife from his son, as it looked like she wasn't going to let go. "Dear, we already talked about this. Let him go." The woman let out a sniff but finally let her son go, and his Father patted him on the shoulder, smiling. "You go out and make us proud, kiddo. And we're here for you in the case you need any help."

"Yeah, Dad." The boy smiled up at him. He almost felt like tearing up as well thanks to his Mom, but he put up the strong front. If his little sister didn't look so apathetic toward this, he probably would not be able to resist it.

"Do you have the Poké Balls I got for you packed already?"

"I just did, Dad." The boy looked kind of sheepish. He'd forgotten to take them with him earlier when he'd gone to Elm's lab. If he hadn't, that shiny Pidgey that Ray caught would have been his, probably. But now it was time for his sister to say her good byes, and she didn't look like she really wanted too. But she did anyway, looking up from her food to frown at her older brother.

"Yeah, don't go die, big brother. Whatever," The girl grumped, before continuing to eat her mac & cheese. All three of the weirdoes she lived with (as she called them) turned to her then, each one having an identical strange look on their face. And suddenly she had a cold feeling run down her spine.

Ion was the one who broke the silence from that remark, lifting up his arms at her as if about to suddenly embrace her from over the table. "Hug. Now."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that, having expected a more volatile reaction, and stood up to do as he said, walking around the table. He was the older brother after all…

Instead of a normal hug, though, he gave her a Big Hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning, making her scream and start giggling. After a few rotations, Ion put his now dizzy little sister back down on the ground and ruffled her hair, grinning at her.

"And you make sure to do your homework, little sis." He gave one last smile to his family, glad for their support in their own ways. His father openly, his mother secretly, and his sister in her almost apathetic seeming way. And then he was off, dashing out of his family's kitchen and then the house entirely, eager to start his adventure.

Ion's father and mother watched him run off, the father steadying his dizzy daughter. And then his father smiled ruefully and shook his head, chuckling. "I wonder who he takes after more?" He asked almost sarcastically, giving his wife a look.

She pointedly ignored him with a bit of a smirk, and then went to go make them all an early dinner. If only her little boy had stayed long enough for it.

* * *

It was a little while later that Ion arrived at the outskirts of town, panting slightly, pausing to catch his breath; When he looked around he could'nt see Ray. He frowned slightly, walking out a little bit more, but he didn't see the taller trainer anywhere around, and he actually looked sad for a few moments.

So... They weren't going to travel together? Darn, and here he was already kind of looking up to the Eevee trainer as a mentor, sort of. He had wanted to learn a little more from him before they eventually went their separate ways, but if Ray had already left...

"Yo!" Came the calm voice of Ray, from the shade of the tree Ion's Pokémon had been napping under that very same day. Ion jumped, and he looked at the relaxing boy with surprise, before he smiled widely. Ray seemed to have a relaxed smile on his face, as well; not as wide as Ion's but it was there. "I was wondering what was taking you so long."

"I was just saying good bye to my parents." Ion stated, going to sit down by the older boy a bit, still a little out of breath. "Mom was doing that thing where she doesn't want her little boy to leave home, Dad was doing that thing where he was so proud of his son he was reduced to tears and Sis was like 'at least you won't take the shower before me anymore'," Ion rolled his eyes, and snickered. Ray couldn't help a chuckle at that, shaking his head. He could understand the boy's exasperation, but only about the parental figures. It could be quite annoying, regardless.

After letting the boy catch his breath, Ray stood from his relaxed posture, stretching slightly. "So, shall we make the trek to Violet City? I heard the Gym leader there has some pretty impressive Bird Pokémon. I'd like to have a shot at him."

"Sure, Mr. Lazybutt." Ion began, his voice in a perfect imitation of Ray's accent. "Let's go show them birds whatfor, eh?"

He couldn't help but giggle at that, knowing that Ray might not like him making fun of his accent, but it was just so easy to do so. He stood, and soon the boys began to walk out of New Bark Town for the second time that day, packed and ready for their adventure.

* * *

_And so, our heroes managed to win their first battle, and save the Cyndaquil! We're sure there are many more things for our heroes to learn, and many more things to do! To find out--_

Tatsu55 and One say: NO.

One sez: Okay, okay, this was supposed to come out Friday last week but I wasn't in the mood to edit anything and Tatsu wasn't helping. . Anyway, so yeah, first rival battle. In the case you didn't notice, our Silver, the red haired kid, is not named Silver in this universe because, frankly, I find the name _stupid_, and we already have a character with a metal themed name. So we went with what Tatsu named his rival in HeartGold, and I decided to make up an entirely new character to be Yagami's accomplice. And he's named after my rival in HeartGold.

And just so you know, yes, they did steal all three starters (And Ion got one back). This will merely be the first of many things we change from the games. After having two main characters, of course.

Ray and Ion are lucky they'd been together at this point in time, because if they hadn't, they'd most likely have lost against Yagami and Ponce. Four Pokémon against two or three? Yeah, not happening. Ponce is a (somewhat) experienced trainer, so he'd have been able to pick up any slack from Yagami's side.

Tatsu55 says: And no, we will not have a 'narrator' be doing that every chapter. Just... no. If there's anything that needs clarifying, we will suffice, and I'm pretty sure you all don't want the 'narrator' cutting in at random intervals, so... no. I would continue my nerd rant, but there's nothing else to say, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and will send us your character submissions, along with any reviews you are willing to give.


	5. Ion's first critical mistake

Chapter five: Ion's first critical mistake

(Read this chapter; I'll let you all make up your mind on what could be Ion's first mistake.)

* * *

The two boys walked the path to Cherrygrove in amiable silence, Ion with a slight skip to his step. His journey was finally underway! He was finally going to get to go on an adventure, just like his parents had in their youth. He was going to prove to the world what he could do.

He had to get his Pokémon back from the Pokémon Center first, however… The only one they had between them was Leafeon, who hadn't been in battle at all. All their other Pokémon had been left at the Center for healing, some needing to be healed more than others (Cyndaquil and Ray's Umbreon being two that needed it most), but they'd wanted all their Pokémon to be in fighting condition. And he didn't like those nasty looking burns that had been on Nabel, Mortimer and Espeon's bodies.

As strange as it may have sounded, Ion thought that Yagami kid was an idiot. Judging by how bad those burns looked, it seemed to be a bit more of a fighter that Totodile had been. He suspected that jerkgator was more of a bully than anything. It probably would have been better to have kept the Cyndaquil and lose the Totodile. After all, you couldn't expect a Pokémon to do well against something with a type it was weak against unless you had a special strategy or something…

Ray interrupted his thoughts however, beginning to speak and drawing his attention over to him. "My thoughts are for us to see if we can't get to Violet City, but we could also remain at the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center, if you'd like." Ray said, his Leafeon tailing along behind the two, obviously pleased at the changing temperature as the hotter day turned into a cooler night. It was good they at least had her with them, although the Pokémon between New Bark Town and Cherrygrove City were remarkably docile and disliked confrontation. The only thing they'd encountered on the way back to Cherrygrove was a curious Sentret that skittered off as soon as all of them noticed it.

"Well, it normally takes a day on foot to get to Violet, but I do like the idea of camping tonight," The smaller boy said, smiling slightly as he thought it over. "Plus I can let my Pokémon run around, which they can't do in a Center. So let's try getting as far as we can before it gets too dark."

"Alright then." Ray said smiling. He was thoughtfully silent for a moment, as if he was thinking of a way to keep the conversation going, and finally decided on a topic. "And by the way, good job in that fight earlier. You don't understand how double battles work yet, but you do have a good grasp on type advantages."

Ion's face lit up at the praise, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Dad and Mom beat that into my head when I said I wanted to be a trainer. 'Ground types can hurt Fire types, and don't use Nabel against a Fighting type!' they always told me, it kinda stuck," He shrugged, snickering.

"Well, you learned well." Ray said, and Ion smiled widely. "Your only problem is that you don't know how to have Pokémon work together to improve your chances in a double battle." Ion's smile fell a little. "Like how Espeon and Umbreon were trying to work with Nabel and Mortimer, but some of your orders didn't work too well."

"Oh..." Ion frowned, looking thoughtful. It had been his first real battle, as his little mock battles with Lyra's Marill weren't really about winning; they had been more playing around than anything. He was sure he'd get better with time, as would his Pokémon. But had he been the reason Umbreon had fainted before?

Well, that only made him feel guilty. He hoped he wouldn't accidentally drag down Ray like that again...

"Luckily, Ponce and Yagami's teamwork was abysmal; otherwise we might've had some real trouble." Ray stated, glancing to the side and noticing just how glum Ion looked at that moment. He raised an eyebrow at that, not really understanding how the smaller boy could switch moods so quickly, but he realized that if someone pointed out his own faults, while he'd be grateful for the help - especially if it was in a constructive manner, - he wouldn't be very happy with it.

"Well, just something to learn, right?" Ray remarked positively, causing the boy to look up at him, and after a moment, smile a small smile.

"Yeah." Ion responded, thinking about it. So, would this mean Ray would be teaching him? That sounded like fun, but he didn't know how much longer than him Ray had been a trainer for. It would probably be best if he just got some tips from his parents or something…

Their conversation paused, however, when they noticed the sign that said 'Welcome to Cherrygrove!' in a cheerful font, and realized that they had passed by the city gates without noticing it. Something that caused the boys to (or at least Ion) to snicker to themselves, looking rather amused.

"Wow, already at Cherrygrove. It really _is_ a quick walk." Ray laughed softly, causing Ion's snickers to turn to giggles.

He had no idea why Cherrygrove and New Bark town were so close together, or why it seemed like they got to it so fast this time. It hardly felt like an hour had passed. The closeness between the cities made some things easier, though, like getting to the shops that only Cherrygrove seemed to have, but for right now Ion wasn't interested in shopping. At the least, not for anything civilians normally needed; both already had everything they'd ever need packed away. The two headed toward the Pokémon Center, passing by a grumbling and progressively sleepy old man, and entered through the sliding glass doors.

The nurse looked up as the two entered. "Hello, how may I help you?" She asked cheerfully, standing up from her chair behind the front desk. Ray was the first to go claim his Pokémon, stepping up and handing over his trainer ID card and letting her look it over. She gave a brief smile and waved it down, remembering the two from a little earlier.

"Let me go get your Pokémon, sir." She said, giving a quick, slight bow before and disappearing through a door behind the counter.

It was a short wait for her to come back, carrying five different Poké Balls that she separated carefully and gave to the young man at the counter, who passed the group of three over to Ion and clipped his own two to himself.

"Your Pokémon are fully healed now. Do take good care of them." She smiled, giving another quick bow. "We hope to see you again!"

"Thanks." Ray replied, giving a quick nod.

"What he said," Ion smiled widely with those big eyes of his. The two walked off a little, letting the line that was forming behind them move forward, and after they were far enough away Ion immediately released all three of his Pokémon from their captivity. While Mortimer and Nabel immediately pounced on their master while Ray looked on in vague amusement, the Cyndaquil just shook her head, letting out a strange blustery sound.

She looked around as Ion dealt with his energetic yet loveable Pokémon, taking in the environment and people around her. This was new. She didn't think she liked it.

Nabel and Mortimer finally relinquished their attack on their master, and he got back up from where he'd lay prone on the floor. And then he was kneeling in front of the Cyndaquil, which made her look up at him, backing off slightly.

Ion looked quietly at her for a moment, before reaching out carefully, holding his hand out to her. "Hey girl." He smiled softly, hoping she'd trust him. "Sorry about earlier… I didn't mean what I said. I..." He paused for a moment, licking his lips and trying to think of what to say. He should have been doing this before, but he'd been busy running around everywhere. And Ray hadn't really given him much time to think about it… And like an idiot, when he did have the time, he had been busy focusing on other things. Moosepickles.

Finally, he decided to just be honest. "I only said it because I didn't want to be forced to pick something, but that was stupid of me. I didn't think about how you felt, and I don't want you to feel like you're not welcome. You can't help that you're going to be given away to some kid because of some stupid rule. So…" He paused for a moment, looking uncertain at the Cyndaquil who had been just staring at him all throughout his rant, her squinty eyes not giving away anything. Ion breathed deeply, let it out, and finally asked, "Can you forgive me?"

The firemouse looked at him for a moment, before she inched forward a bit and sniffed at his hand. Ion gave a small smile at that, but didn't try to press; only let her get his scent while Mortimer, Nabel, Leafeon, Ray and some others who paid them any attention looked on, Ray with a rather thoughtful look on his face.

And then Cyndaquil leaned toward his hand and caught one of his fingers between her teeth.

Mortimer and Nabel tensed, but Ion didn't say or do anything besides a minor wince. She wasn't exactly biting him, but she was giving him the reaction that he had come to know as the 'you're a bastard' response, or something similar. She even let him go quickly enough afterwards, looking up at him questioningly, almost as if she was daring him to do something back.

Ray sighed softly, relieved; that went better than he thought it might. He came up to Ion's side as the smaller boy stood up, looking kind of disappointed, and put a hand on his shoulder. Ion looked up at Ray helplessly, as if he didn't know what to do. Ray shrugged his shoulders in response. "You can't expect instant forgiveness for something that you've done, sometimes, no matter how flowery your words."

Ion didn't really look like he liked that, so Ray decided to just change the subject entirely. "At any rate, shall we get going?" He asked, taking his hand off Ion's shoulder and walked off a little. "I recommend at least keeping two of your Pokémon in their Balls in case we run into any trainers."

Ion nodded, looking a put out. He had apologized, just as he'd wanted to do, but it seemed he wasn't going to be forgiven just yet. He'd have to earn it. And for the moment, the only way to do that was let this little one walk with them.

With a sigh, he returned Nabel to her ball. He'd best let her rest until she was needed; between his first two Pokémon, his Kangaskhan needed the most training. And now with this little Cyndaquil added to the mix...

He needed to give her a name. Even if she didn't like it, he had to call her something other than the name of her species.

Ion bent down quickly, tapping the Cyndaquil's head and getting her attention again. "Doreen." He told her, making her look puzzled. "Your name is Doreen. Welcome to the team, girl."

She still looked puzzled, but she immediately fell into step behind him like a duckling, following behind Mortimer as they both walked off after Ray, leaving the Center behind.

* * *

"So," Ion began, "What's Sinnoh like, Ray?"

"For one thing," Ray replied, "The cities aren't that close to each other. And it's a lot colder."

"Heh, this is the last close city for a while," Ion smirked, though he made a mental note never to visit Sinnoh if it was so cold. "After this we'll be going quite a ways." He paused for a moment, before looking up at Will questioningly. "Are you planning on training all Eevees, by the way?"

"I'm what people would call a Pokémon breeder. I train all types of Pokémon to figure out their likes and dislikes, and record them for others to use in the raising of their Pokémon. However, for the Pokémon League challenge, I wanted to go with Pokémon I feel comfortable with, and those are the three Eevees you've seen." Ray said with a smile. "I like training Eevees, so if I can I'm going to keep using them, yeah."

"Oh... So you won't also be training that Pidgey you caught?" Ion was a real bundle of questions today, but he really felt comfortable around Ray now, even if their initial meeting had been... strained. He normally didn't have a turnaround like this about someone, but even if Ray had seemed kind of cold at first, he'd really warmed up. And he thought that Pidgey was pretty. If Ray didn't want to train it he was going to ask if he could have it.

"Hmm... I'm not sure." Ray seemed to ponder that question very seriously, tapping his chin in thought. "When we get to Violet City, I'll see if I can't talk to my dad. We haven't caught a shiny Pokémon before, since they're so rare, so he may want to train it himself."

"Ah." The boy thought for a moment, kind of disappointed by that answer but understood it, before he asked his next question, "So, what would you suggest I catch? I mean, I know I have Mortimer, Nabel and Doreen now, but should I start trying to fill out my team now?"

While he hadn't wanted to feel forced to pick his Pokémon, he wouldn't say no to a few suggestions.

Ray, however, shook his head, looking a little amused. "Don't feel rushed Ion." He stated. "Some of the worst teams come out of being rushed in your choices of Pokémon to use in your party." And then he began to do something that Ion had seen his teachers at his school do, and knew he was beginning to do that thing he called 'lecture mode'. However, as this was going to be about Pokémon, Ion couldn't find himself minding it… Too much. "Some people go for strategy, others for Pokémon they like. In my case," Ray smirked, almost making him look smug in Ion's eyes, "strategic advantage and favorites coincide, what with the many evolved forms of Eevee." Ray scratched the back of his head as he thought for a moment, trying to think up an example. And then he continued, "Did you know that the Champion Red didn't have his Lapras and Snorlax until he had gotten seven out of the eight badges? Before them, his team had a Primeape and a Pidgeot on it."

"Yeah, I think I remember hearing about that in school," The boy nodded, looking up at Ray with big eyes. "Wasn't he one of the first ever people to be Champion at age 11, before the League increased the ages for legalizing trainers?"

"Yes, he was." Ray nodded, a smile on his face. This was obviously a favorite topic for him. "His battle with Team Rocket and Giovonni is what made the League reconsider the age for young trainers." And both knew it wasn't because of Red, who was amazing in all aspects, but because many younger trainers had Pokémon stolen or killed by Team Rocket, though they had stolen a fair share of older people's Pokémon too. It still caused the league to bump up the ages and encourage people who wanted to be a trainer to raise a Pokémon at home, so they would have the knowledge and skill necessary to defend themselves. They'd also made it mandatory that all prospective trainers take classes in how to camp and live off the wild effectively, considering the longer wait the young trainers had before they could journey.

"Red is the best there is," Ray stated, his respect for the Champion obvious to Ion. He had respect for his parents too… Sometimes. When they reminded him of how awesome they had been before they had him. "For nearly seven years after he defeated his rival, Blue, in the finale of the Pokémon League tournament, and became the League Champion, no one has been able to beat him. Not Lance, not Steven, not Wallace and not Cynthia. All four of them have faced Red and lost soundly to him."

"Wow, really?" The boy gasped, looking up at Ray with wonder. He hadn't learned about that! This made Red practically a superhero if he had defeated all this big name trainers even _he_ would know about! "So, he's like the best Pokémon Trainer there ever was?"

"Apparently so." Ray said, musing. "Maybe someday, if we both train hard, we'll get to face him in battle." He smirked slightly, though in this case it didn't look almost pretentious to Ion. "That's my dream. To fight Red using only my Eevee's. I think I'd be satisfied no matter what the outcome, wouldn't you think?"

"Maybe..." Ion said thoughtfully. Yeah, he'd feel happy if he could go up against the very best trainer there ever was, to fight to a stand still, even. But Ion, himself, could never stand feeling like he was only second best. He wanted to be the best there ever was, to beat all the rest. That would be his cause.

So, with a large grin, he pointed off in the horizon. "But I don't want to ever be second best to anyone. I want to be the very best there ever was. I want to be the best trainer in the world!"

"I see..." Ray said, a slight smile on his face. "In that case, you'd better work on trying to beat me first, before you even think about the Pokémon League or Red."

"Alright, then I'll defeat you someday first," Ion smiled up at Ray, though it had a bit of a challenge to it. "And on that day, my master, you shall know defeat, bitter and black as coffee."

The taller teen snorted. "I don't like coffee. Say something like hot chocolate, that's a much more enjoyable taste to defeat." Ray said airily, as once more they passed through Cherrygrove, and started heading up the route. "Ah, you do know how the new trainer battle rules work, right?" He asked, seeing as it was possible they would run into trainers soon. They'd seen some on the way up to Mr. Pokémon's house, but thanks to some clever stealthy maneuvers, they'd avoided coming into contact with those other trainers. Except for Ponce and Yagami, who'd literally ran into them.

"How many new rules have they made up?" Ion grumped suddenly, kicking the ground. "I mean, there's the badge rules, the market rules, the Center rules, the starter rule... How many rules do they need?"

"Well, this one is a little more important." Ray said, laughing softly. He agreed that there were a lot of rules, but most of them were necessary. "It used to be that battles would be initiated whenever two trainers met. I'm not sure why, but that was a rule or something. The new rule permits people to decline a battle if they wish, though that comes at the expense of being called a sissy or coward." Ray said, a smile on his face that didn't tell whether he usually gave the names or received them.

"Who would turn away free money?" Ion asked, looking up at Ray with his head cocked to the side curiously. Yes, he was that confident about his ability to win against most of the common trainers around here. After all, he did have with him three Pokémon; most kids around these parts normally had only one or two. And he'd trained Nabel and Mortimer with the help of his parents (Who gave him pointers when he asked for them), so he was confident that if Doreen couldn't do much, his other two would more than make up the slack.

And suddenly he remembered they hadn't gained money from the two rude idiots from earlier that day, which made him wince. Oh well, he'd beat twice the amount out of them next time.

"Well, if you do lose, you give up half of your money to the winner. That's why a lot of people leave money at home or transfer money to their home at Pokémon Centers nowadays." Ray stated, saying something Ion already knew. Of course he knew this; it was another thing Ion had known thanks to his parents. In fact, his Mom had offered to be his bank. "Of course, it's required that a trainer has at least one hundred poké at all times. If they lose a battle and go down below one hundred..." Ray paused for a moment, thoughtful, before continuing, looking somewhat uncertain, "you know, I'm not entirely sure what those trainers do. Maybe do some part time work in town or ask for money from their parents or something." He shrugged. "I've been lucky in that the few battles I've fought so far I've won them all, so..."

"Well, I'm sure I'll win all my battles too," Ion grinned, bouncing around slightly. "The only real weak link in my party is Doreen, and that's because I hardly know her like I know Mortimer and Nabel." Dorren may not be great yet, but she was going to be an awesome Cyndaquil, and all because she was going to be traveling with him. He just knew it.

"Don't be overconfident, Ion." Ray warned him, "That will lead to some big losses that you could otherwise avoid. Even the best of trainers lose battles at times." However, he could not continue, as upon the path there appeared to be two youngsters, hanging out and talking. However, since it was now evening, they must have been Pokémon Trainers.

"Ooh, trainers," Ion whispered with a wide smile, having noticed them as well. Completely ignoring Ray's somewhat pessimistic advice, he immediately rushed forward, calling out to the two other trainers, "Yo!"

The two turned to face him, looking more like two good friends chatting than mean spirited killers. Ray gave a sigh and realized that his imagination was really overactive at times. The two smiled, and the younger of the two said "Yo! Who are you guys? Headed to Violet City?"

"Of course, where else would we be going?" Ion rolled his eyes, but kept his friendly air, smiling widely. "I'm Ion, and I'm from New Bark Town."

"Ah cool!" The younger replied. "I'm Joey, from Cherrygrove."

"And I'm Zack, the same." The other shorts wearing boy said, before taking a closer look at the two and smiling. "I thought I saw you around before. You guys were visiting that Mr. Pokémon earlier today, right?"

"That's right." Ray answered, thought he thought wryly, 'So much for clever stealth, Ion.'

Zack rubbed his shoulder, looking a little uncomfortable. "Talking with that guy always tires me out."

"You're not alone." Ray said with a slight shrug and a chuckle.

"Tell me about it." Ion said flatly, before chuckling as well. He looked thoughtful for a moment, before asking the question that had been on his mind since he'd seen these two trainers. "So... Wanna battle?" Ion looked at the two with big eyes. He knew it was rather quick, they hardly knew each other, but if he was to beat Ray, then he needed to start training here. No offence to these kids, but they would be stepping stones in his career.

"We're game." Answered Joey. "Single? Or double battle?"

"Can we try a single battle?" Ion asked, giving a bit of an embarrassed giggle. "We had a double battle with some very rude idiots earlier. They kept insulting us and one of them had the foulest mouth you'll ever hear," The boy gave a frown at that. He did not like those Ponce or Yagami fellows.

"Oh those two." Joey said. "Yeah, those guys were rude."

Zack sighed. "The one blew past us, and the other looked at us like we were worms."

"Well, we're on their trail, so it's good to know they went this way." Ray said.

Joey smiled. "But enough about that, let's fight, you and me!"

"Alright, how many do we use? I got three, how about you?" Ion asked, bringing a Poké Ball into his hand and enlarging it, but not throwing it. He had to know how many first, and then he'd release his first Pokémon.

Joey's eyes widened. "I've only got one, myself. So let's go with that. Ready? Here comes Rattata!" He cried, throwing his Poké Ball onto the ground, and releasing the creature.

"Ion, be careful. Fighting at night is different than during the day." Ray commented, before taking a restful position against a tree.

"Well, of course it's different, it's dark out," Ion stated like it was obvious, which it was. It wasn't even night time yet, so he had no idea why Ray even gave that advice, but it was still appreciated, which he made known with a big, bright smile toward his new friend. He casually pointed in front of him, putting Nabel's Ball away, and Mortimer was there instantly, staring down the Rattata as he got into an almost Samurai-ish pose. Doreen sat on the sidelines, sniffing a flower curiously.

"Use Bone Club, Mortimer," Ion said almost calmly, though he kept that big, friendly smile on his face. And Mortimer was off like a shot, his bone club raised high as he let out a loud war cry of his species' name.

Joey smiled. "Rattata, Sand-attack!" The rat-Pokémon sent a stream of sand at Mortimer, which struck him and turned into a cloud of lingering grit. Thought Ion couldn't see his Pokémon's surprise, he did hear it from the grunt he made in response. "Follow it up with quick attack!" The Rattata could barely be seen, moving quickly from shadow to shadow as it launched its attack, aiming for Mortimer's back.

Mortimer pitched forward slightly at the Rattata's strike, but he whirled around and struck at the Rattata before it could get away, getting a solid strike (pretty much lucky as he was blinded at the moment) on the little rat before it could get away.

Ion blinked for a moment, before the smile grew wider. Oh, yeah, this would be fun. He didn't want an easy win, he wanted a challenge. So he ordered next, "Mortimer, use Growl."

And then Mortimer let out a low sound from his throat, one that reverberated around in his skull helm, causing it to rattle and intensify the sound, trying to intimidate the other Pokémon. And it worked, Rattata backing further away from the cloud of grit, a fearful look on its face.

"Rattata, Tail Whip!" Joey responded, and immediately, though the Rattata could not been seen well, it felt like everything around suddenly was less defensive than normal with its taunting tail-wave. "Tackle!" Came the shout afterwards, and the Ratatta once again charged at the Cubone.

"Headbutt," Ion returned, and his Cubone charged right back at the Rattata. Yes, he was aware this was a mistake, having his Pokémon charge right back, but what else could he do? Plus, it was clear Mortimer had the advantage in pure power and he wasn't really being hurt by Rattata, while the little rat had the clear advantage in speed. Of course, being in a cloud of grit it made itself wasn't smart, as it had the same accuracy loss that Mortimer did, and in that case, the one who had the most attack power would win this fight if they managed to get a hit in.

And they hit each other with amazing force, his Cubone thrown back a little and landing on his butt, while the Rattata was thrown clear out of the sand cloud, which was clearing away.

"Aw man..." Came a disappointed cry, as the Rattata was revealed to be fainted on the ground. "And I only have one Pokémon." Joey said sadly, returning his Rattata. "You win. Good job."

"You too, that was actually pretty smart, using Sand Attack like that." Ion encouraged, smiling, beckoning his Cubone back to him. "If your Rattata just had a ranged attack, he could have just sniped Mortimer while he was in the cloud, though, instead of trying to attack him in it, too."

Yeah, but not many Rattatas learn ranged moves..." Joey said, sadly skulking off to the side to make room for his friend.

"Alright then, shall you and I have a round?" Ray asked, looking at Zack. Zack laughed. "I think I'd rather try my luck against Ion as well, if that's alright with the both of you. I only have a Pidgey, so it'd be a one on one."

"Alright," Ion said, shrugging. He was thinking on who to use, and while Nabel was strong, perhaps he should use another one... Like, perhaps, his newest one. After all, Doreen needed work. And she looked rather bored, off to the side like that.

He looked at Zack, his smile turning challenging. "Ready?"

"Ready." Replied his challenger. "Pidgey, I choose you!" He shouted, and out came a similar bird to the one Ray had caught earlier that day, except this one wasn't shining, nor was it a pretty shade of gold, which disappointed Ion. Ray's Pidgey was prettier.

None the less, he pointed, calling out "Go, Doreen!", and after a moment the Cyndaquil hopped forward, realizing she was being called upon, and her fire formed on her back, puffing smoke out of her mouth.

Seeing that, Ion smirked and ordered her, "Use Smoke Screen, Doreen!" Although still confused with the name, she did as ordered, puffing a large cloud of smoke at the Pidgey. While Ion had a feeling Pidgey would just be ordered to blow it away, this was more a stalling tactic while his firemouse got into position.

"Pidgey, get on up there!" Zack called, and the Pidgey flew up into the air, and immediately its natural wing beat began to work against the smokescreen Doreen had created. "Gust now!" And the Pidgey created a slice of wind that cut through the smokescreen easily, though it may have been completely off the mark as far as hitting the Cyndaquil.

Which it was, as the firemouse had jumped to the side, and with Ion's next order of "Use Ember!" shot a fireball into the sky, right where Pidgey was. Ion hoped it hit, as it was a long range move as opposed to every other attack his Pokémon had.

Luckily, Pidgey's air movement got it out of the way just in time, and again the bird threw a powerful blast of wind, this time at the Cyndaquil.

But Cyndaquil was quick, and she jumped out of the way without Ion's order. While he was kind of glad she could do things by herself, he hoped she wouldn't try to disobey his orders in battle.

"Try Ember again!" He called out, and instead, this time Doreen sent out a cloud of embers, just so it would be harder for Pidgey to dodge than a singe fireball.

And this time it wasn't as lucky; the Pidgey was hit, its feathers burning, but it took this chance to charge forward, attempting a quick attack on Doreen.

And as it was Quick Attack, it was hard for the firemouse to dodge; which she couldn't. She was propelled through the air and landed hard on the ground from Pidgey's impact, but she wasn't quite as hurt as she had been by Mortimer's attack not to long ago. In fact, it felt like a love tap compared to that.

Shaking her head, she waited once more for orders, which came from Ion in the form of "Use Quick Attack as well!"

And so Doreen did, zipping around, kicking up clouds of dust before sweeping toward Pidgey, aiming to hit it back.

Unfortunately, all the Pidgey had to do was go a bit higher in the air and the Cyndaquil's attack missed completely. After which, the Pidgey immediately attacked with another gust attack upon its trainer's order.

And still using Quick Attack, Doreen was out of the way of where she would have landed, and fired another cloud of embers without Ion's order, which made him frown. This wasn't going well; she was starting to rely on his orders less and less. Oh well, he'd let her go on by herself for now, see how it worked.

Pidgey flew out of the way; easily this time, as the embers weren't positioned as well as they had been the first time. "Quick attack!" Came Zack's call, and Pidgey obliged, charging towards Doreen.

And Ion swore he saw the most unpleasant little smirk on Doreen's face, and he wasn't aware that mice _could_ smirk. And it suddenly let out the biggest ember he'd ever seen, and Pidgey, moving as fast as it was, wouldn't be able to hope to dodge it.

The Pidgey was blasted head first and fell to the ground in a faint, most of its feathers burned off. And all the gathered trainers and single Cubone had to wince at that. "Ouch, that was a really strong attack." Zack said, returning the Pidgey. "Looks like I lost as well. Too bad."

"Well, you had the clear advantage all through the fight," Ion said with encouragement, smiling a friendly smile, motioning his devious Cyndaquil back to his side; she, however, just went back to the flower she'd been sniffing. "You just made a bad final choice. You'd have had me if you kept gusting."

"Yes, maybe I would've, but Pidgey's can't keep gusting without tiring themselves out quickly." He shrugged. "It was a good battle though."

Joey jumped up, interrupting any more banter. "Hey! Give me your number Ion? I'll call you someday for a rematch!"

"Uh," Ion blinked, looking at Ray (who gave him a look that it was his call) for a moment before he shrugged, pulling out his PokéGear and getting his number. "Sure."

* * *

After Ion got the boy's number and registered it (And also his winnings), he and Ray separated from Zack and Joey, who had to head home as it was getting dark (And they had to heal their Pokémon). They continued along the path, going around a large section of tall grass, and found themselves confront by a young boy in a strange, fishnet outfit, with a large straw hat and giant butterfly net, slowly stalking a tiny Spinarak.

"... Let's just keep moving." Ray whispered to Ion, willing to pass the strange boy altogether.

And then the Spinarak, startled from Ray speaking, shot off, and the boy tried to catch it with the net in vain, slapping it on the ground to keep it from running off.

And after it got away, the boy turned toward them angrily, scaring the smaller teen behind Ray once more.

"You deal with him, I don't like the looks of him," Ion whimpered softly.

"We don't have to do anything." Ray said calmly. "Let's just keep moving."

The two tried to move up the route, but the strange bug catcher blocked their path, taking two Poké Balls from... Somewhere on his person, and growled at Ray, "You made me lose that Spinarak. I'm gonna take it out of your hide!"

"Look, I didn't make you lose anything." Ray stated calmly, but after a few seconds (And trying to move past the stubborn bug catcher, only for him to get in the way), he could tell the boy was not about to let him go without a fight. So much for the great new rules of the Pokémon League.

"Very well." He sighed, taking up one Poké Ball. "Umbreon, Espeon, let's go." While the dark Pokémon strode out from behind Ray, where it had been since earlier in the evening, the purple one burst from a Poké Ball, sitting very majestically while it waited for the boy's Pokémon to appear.

He wordlessly sent out his Pokémon, a Beedrill and Butterfree, who let out a buzz and a strange trilling sound respectively, both flying in the air over them.

"Well, a most impressive pair, if I might make that comment." Ray said, smiling slightly. 'This is bad. I know this always seems to come up, but my team's one weak spot is the bug type... How do I take down two evolved forms that can fly?' Taking a breath, Ray began the battle.

"Umbreon, Helping Hand! Espeon, Confusion on Beedrill!" The helping hand would boost every part of the move, making it hard to dodge. And since Beedrill was part poison...

A glowing violet aura surrounded his two Pokémon as Umbreon concentrated, and Espeon focused intently on Beedrill, which was blasted back by psychic force.

However while it did seem hurt, it was still kicking. In fact, it looked right pissed off. And without warning, it shot at Espeon, its twin needle drill arms pointed at her, and began to sting her relentlessly with them though she tried to avoid it, while Butterfree flew over Umbreon's head, a glowing blue powder dropping from its wings over him.

Or had been standing, as Umbreon was already dashing towards Espeon, so the powder fell where he had been moments before. Instead of trying to help Espeon directly, however, Umbreon opened its mouth, and shot what was obviously a hyper beam right at Beedrill.

The bug catcher's eyes widened and he shouted something that was drowned out by the sound of the Hyper Beam exploding off a tree somewhere in the background, though Ray had the feeling it was an obscenity of some sort.

"Holy (junk heaps)!" He heard Ion cry, as the boy was most likely not expecting to see such an attack from an Umbreon.

And Beedrill obviously wasn't either, and it was knocked off of Espeon and fell to the ground, its exoskeleton blackened and smoking. And Butterfree decided to finish where Beedrill started, and darted at Espeon with a Bug Bite.

Espeon had recovered, and quickly started to run from the coming Butterfree. 'Come on, think Ray...' Ray quickly shifted his thoughts, until an idea came to him. "Sand attack Espeon! Then use Quick attack and get to Umbreon!" Espeon once again kicked sand at her opponent, but this time she shot away and towards Umbreon, who was still reeling from the Hyper Beam he had shot earlier. "Helping Hand!" Ray shouted, and with Espeon's Aid, Umbreon roared back into the fight, firing a Confuse Ray at the Butterfree.

Butterfree quickly flew up out of the sand, evading both it and Confuse Ray entirely.

Shaking himself out of his shock, the bug catcher sneered at Ray. "So you combine attacks too? Well see if you like that, then try this on for size!" He turned to his Butterfree, "Use Powder Gust, bro!"

And then the giant butterfly trilled once more, summoning a gale up like a normal gust attack, only it looked wrong. It was _glittering_.

Ray did not like the looks of this. "Espeon, Quick attack! Umbreon, buckle down!" As the Espeon sped as far away and as fast as possible from the gust of powders, Umbreon stayed put, facing it like the oncoming of a storm. Umbreon was hit, and immediately keeled over, flopping to the ground. However, even as it was unconscious, it seemed to be suffering, whimpering softly and trying to kick with mostly stiff limbs.

And Butterfree looked just as afflicted, only it didn't fall asleep, strangely. However, it flashed for a second after it made a gulping sound when Umbreon had been affected by that attack, but still looked ill and its wings flapped erratically.

"Okay, use Bug Bite on that Espeon and finish it off, Butterfree!" The catcher said, smiling smugly, but that smile fell when the butterfly suddenly stopped flapping its wings and flopped to the ground limply.

'A Lum Berry. A smart play, but that berry can only heal one status effect. Not many at the same time.' Ray thought. "Espeon, use Confusion!" Ray called, and though Butterfree wouldn't take as much damage, it would still be hurt.

Espeon grabbed the Butterfree with her mind and smashed it into the ground before throwing it into a tree, where it caught itself and began flying again, though it looked like it was having a heck of a time trying to keep itself up there. It didn't look very hurt by Espeon's attack, but still looked rather ill.

And then did the last thing its trainer commanded, flying down at Espeon for a Bug Bite.

Espeon took the hit, Butterfree grabbing an ear, though it hurt more than Ray would've liked to see. Instead of waiting, however, the Espeon attacked once more with Confusion, prying its mouth open and smashing it into the ground once more.

And the Butterfree was once more knocked down on its back and floundered a bit, before laying still, the poison taking its toll. The bug catcher looked at its Pokémon in shock, sighed and hung his head, recalling them both. He turned back to Cherrygrove and began to head back that way, grumbling and glaring at Ray and Ion as he passed them, causing Ion to cower away from him behind Ray again.

"What was with that guy?" Ion asked after the catcher was gone, shivering slightly. Not only dressed weirdly, but also quite an unpleasant person.

"I dunno, but I sure as (Hoothoot) hope I don't meet him again." Ray said simply as he returned Umbreon and Espeon, calling out Leafeon and walked up the now empty path, Ion and their Pokémon following him like chicks with a hen. "Come on, we're getting close to a place called... Dark Cave. We'll camp there for the night." He felt a sudden sense of dread when Ion's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Cave? We're heading for a cave!" Ion asked excitedly, bouncing up to Ray's side like an excited puppy. "I wanna explore the cave! Caves are where adventures are!"

"Well, this cave might not be so fun, Ion." Ray tried to persuade him, "Dark cave is pitch black, and only a Pokémon that knows flash can guide people through it. Sadly, not many people have a Pokémon with that move."

Ion looked up at the boy with big, sad puppy dog eyes, and Ray felt the dread boil heavily inside of him with a certain amount of annoyance thrown in for good measure. "Adventure?" Ion asked, almost insistent.

"Do you have a Pokémon with Flash? Because I don't." Ray stated flatly.

"Adventure!" Ion repeated, more insistent then the last time.

"Whatever." Ray sighed, giving up. "You can see for yourself. Then you'll understand."

"Yay!" Ion cheered, racing ahead excitedly.

Ray shook his head. There was no arguing with the younger boy.

They eventually had to turn onto Route 31, and Ion was still in the lead; so he was easily able to see the opening in the rock face up ahead, as well as the sign next to it. Even though the sun had long since set, he was able to catch the big, bold letters of 'Dark Cave' on it, and while he looked like he wanted to run straight in, he was kind enough to wait for Ray to catch up before shouting "Adventure!" one last time before racing in.

And then there was the sound of a commotion, of him tripping up and smacking into what sounded like a lot of paint cans that had been set up just for the purpose of him knocking them down, and then after it all ended, a small, whiny "Owie..."

Ray shook his head once more. If Dark Cave was anything like some of the caves from his homeland, it was impossible to navigate without light, especially at night. He sat down, figuring it would be best for him to begin making the camp, while Ion tried and failed to make it through.

"You alright in there?" Ray called out after a bit, watching Mortimer wait patiently by the cave's mouth while the Cyndaquil wandered over to where his Leafeon was laying down, and began to sniff her like she'd been doing to that flower earlier.

"What?" Ion called back, sounding like he'd gotten deeper in the cave in just those few seconds.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT IN THERE!" Ray shouted, coming up to the mouth of the cave and feeling like a supreme idiot.

"WHAT?" Ion shouted back, more echoes accompanying his words. "I'M SORRY RAY I CAN'T HEAR YOU ITS TOO DARK IN HERE!"

Ray paused for a moment. Something about that last statement... was odd. Really, really odd. And very stupid, too. "HOW DOES THE DARKNESS STOP YOU FROM HEARING ME?" Ray shouted again.

"I DON'T KNOW- I MEAN, WHAT?" Ion knew he messed up there, and that it meant he'd probably have to give up his game. Ray's face twisted in annoyance, and he decided that he didn't want part of this conversation anymore, leaving the mouth of the cave to go and continue setting up camp. And pointedly ignoring Mortimer's chuckles at him.

"Uh, Ray, I think something is following me in here!" The smaller boy cried out suddenly at a more normal volume, probably heading back to the entrance of the cave, but also sounding quite a bit panicked.

"Well, it's not like I could see it if I came in there, so either get back to the exit or keep moving and hope it's your imagination!" Ray shouted, thinking most of it was more than likely Ion's imagination.

"Oh god it's right behind me I can hear it breathing," Ion practically sobbed back, nearer to the exit of the cave right now, but still obscured by the darkness. Mortimer had gotten up, looking into the cave worriedly, obviously agitated by the distress in his trainer's voice.

"Then hurry up and get out here." Ray said unsympathetically, as his warnings had been completely ignored until maybe just now, so he wasn't all that keen on being kind to the one that had ignored him.

Ion's foot falls came right to the edge of the veil of darkness before he suddenly let out a loud cry, and then there was the sound of him falling over and scattering things once more. And then there was silence.

"Idiot." Ray sighed. "If he doesn't come out in a minute or so I suppose we should go pull his butt out of the fire..." He sighed again, and his Leafeon gave a soft cry as it rested peacefully on the ground. And pawed at Doreen to leave her alone, though the little firemouse continued to sniff at her.

And throughout that minute of Will setting up the camp, there wasn't a sound from the cave, not a thing, not a peep. It was unnerving, and the Pokémon, and Ray himself, seemed to get more and more agitated as time went on, until Ray finally stood with a sigh.

"Alright, let's go Leafeon." He said, getting himself up from his sitting position, and heading over to the mouth of the cave, where Mortimer stood, waiting for backup. Leafeon followed him, looking quite annoyed with the little firemouse who followed her like a duckling. "I bet that kid knocked himself out with a rock or something."

"AH!" There was a sudden cry, and the boy was thrown right into Ray's chest with amazing force, sending them both tumbling head over heels and landing on the ground as their Pokémon jumped away, eyes wide with surprise.

"'Achop." An unfamiliar voice grumbled from the mouth of the cave, and a strange, scaly, blue little humanoid walked out of its home, holding one shoulder with a hand and rolling it, glaring at the two humans that just came into its territory.

"Ah, so that was the Pokémon that was following you." Ray said, getting up and not paying attention to the black eye Ion now sported. "You idiot, you ran right into the Machop's territory without any thought for what the Machop would do to you. Now my guess is he's going to beat the ever loving (patootie) out of you and anyone else in a five meter radius, so I'm leaving. Good luck." Ray said, before moving back over to the camp.

"Wait, what?" Ion asked, looking at Ray in surprise before looking at the annoyed Machop that was closing in. In reaction to not wanting to get beat up again, he jumped to his feet, pointing at him dramatically, and yelled out, "Go, Doreen!" completely surprising the approaching humanoid.

The firemouse jumped in front of her trainer, tilting her head curiously at the suddenly smirking Machop. "Cynda?" She squeaked, almost as if she was more curious than afraid.

"Good luck with that." Ray said, as he began to pack up what he had so far set up. Now that Ion had brought this Machop outside, it was very likely that it would attack anything in sight since this was its 'territory.' "If you can, you might want to catch it. Otherwise, force it back inside the cave. Either way, we'll have to head closer towards Violet City afterwards."

"Um, right," Ion managed to say, his voice nervous, while the Machop got itself into a strange stance, looking expectedly at the little firemouse.

Well, it looked like it was waiting for Doreen to make a move, so Ion pointed at their current opponent and yelled, "Doreen, use Ember!"

Immediately his firemouse's back flame lit, illuminating everything, and causing Machop to reflexively flinch back at the light, its eyes squinting against it... But it seemed rather surprised to get pelted with a fireball rather than being physically struck. And while the fireball did leave a burn, the Machop seemed more annoyed than anything.

It got out of its stance and began to charge at Doreen. Since the firemouse only had one order so far she decided to keep spitting fireballs at its opponent, jumping away to keep the distance up.

Machop didn't react to the fireballs pelting its chest, however, it only charged fearlessly forward closed the distance far quicker than Doreen could make it. He gave the small mouse a hard chop to the head, sending her flying, but the firemouse corrected herself in the air after shaking herself in her daze, spitting another fireball at the Machop.

It grunted in annoyance, the fireball splashing against its head, before it ran up to the other Pokémon just as it landed, sliding into a low kick that once more sent Doreen flying. As it wasn't a strike to its head, however, Doreen was able to correct herself faster, and as she landed on the ground, spat another fireball before using a Quick Attack to climb up a tree.

Even if it recovered from every strike that had landed on her, she couldn't take much more. That Machop hit hard.

And said Machop actually let out a growl, the fireball once more striking it, but this time on the shoulder. Its body was covered with burn marks by this point, but it wasn't really all that hurt, or seemed to be. It began to run toward the tree Doreen had skittered up, ignoring another fireball that pelted it, and gave the trunk a hard, powerful chop, smashing right through it. And with a loud groan, the tree began to fall.

"Oh holy (Tauros kibbles)!" Ion cried, having watched this fight critically up to this point (Doreen had proven quite well that it didn't need constant direction) and began to run out of the path of the falling tree.

Luckily, most of the camp had been packed up, but Ray still had to quickly get out of the way of the falling tree. "Ion, don't let that Machop use the trees to attack us! We're not as resilient as Pokémon!" He shouted, knowing full well that Ion had most likely figured that out.

"I got that!" Ion snapped right back, before calling to Doreen, who had quickly abandoned ship before the tree even got too low, "Don't climb up those again, Doreen! We don't want to clear cut this place, and Ray and I aren't as fast as you."

The firemouse gave a squeaky mutter, before spitting another fireball and darting off. The Machop had a feral smile on its face as it closed in on Doreen, grabbing her up in a bear hug, jumping high in the air, spinning as fast as it could, building up momentum, and then tossing the Cyndaquil hard at the ground.

Doreen collided hard with the ground, and after bouncing a bit, lay still on the ground, not even attempting to get up. And the Machop was falling right toward it with that same feral smile, ready to smash it into paste.

Ion didn't need to be told, before Ray could speak up he pulled out Doreen's ball, pointing it at her, and called out with a massive amount of panic, "Doreen Return!"

The ball shot its ray of light at her, and collected her mass and returned it to energy, which flew back into it. And not a moment too soon, as the Machop struck the ground right where it had been, and created a massive crater where its fist now was, right where Doreen's head would have been.

And Ion didn't need to be told anything again, he knew if he didn't send out his next Pokémon he would become the Machop's next target and it did _not_ look very nice right now.

"Nabel, go!" Ion called, throwing her Poké Ball and summoning her to the world. She already knew what was going on, having heard it all from her little capsule, and gave the Machop a challenging growl, narrowing her eyes at it as she got ready to fight.

The Machop smirked at her, returning her growl, before charging. It thought that this new Pokémon would try keeping its distance like the last one would, but Ion surprised it when it came within striking distance of the new Pokémon, "Nabel, use Fake Out!"

Suddenly the little kangaroo-like Pokémon's hands shot out, boxing the Machop on both sides of his head. He stumbled back, dazed, but Ion and Nabby didn't let up.

"Use Comet Punch!" The boy called, and Nabel closed in on the other Pokémon, giving him a barrage of punches to the face that had it jerking every which way, before she landed a powerful one to its chest, sending it sliding away and falling down on its back. Ion didn't want to play fair with this one, he had a feeling if he let it get back up and prepare itself in its stance it would be that much harder to beat, so he called out again, "Use Comet Punch again, and end with a Low Kick!"

Nabby began to close in once more, as Machop got up slowly, still suffering from the Fake Out attack, and began to try her barrage of punches once again. Machop, however, while still dazed, knew what was coming, and began to put up a valiant effort, blocking some of the punches by tucking its head under its arms, but it didn't expect the Kangaskhan to, instead of landing one last powerful punch on him, instead slipped a leg past his and then kicked it out from under him, sending him once more on his back.

Ion, seeing an opening, called out to his little girl, "Finish it off with a Mega Punch, Nabby!"

Machop heard that order as well this time, and it did not want anything called a 'Mega Punch' landing on him in a position such as this, and rolled out of the way of the strong punch Nabby would landed on his stomach if he'd just stayed prone. And as a way to get revenge, he planted his hands under him and kicked out Nabby's legs from under her, knocking the young Kangaskhan prone, and then handstood and flipped back into a standing position, and then preformed an elbow drop on the baby Pokémon's stomach.

She lost her breath, and it would have been worse if Ion had lost his nerve here, but he called out to her before Machop could get up to do it again. "Get out of the way and Headbutt, Nabby!"

His little girl reached up and hit the Machop square in the chest again as it stood, making it stumble away, and rolled over and stood up, panting. Even if Machop only landed one attack on her so far, it had hurt, perhaps more than it had ever hurt Doreen. But she wasn't done yet, and just to prove it, she lowered her head and charged, catching the staggered Machop in the chest, and both tumbled to the ground, Nabby on top.

Ion still had the desire to press their advantage, however, and called out to his Pokémon, "Use Comet Punch!"

Nabel immediately straddled the Machop, and began her customary bout of punching the living hell out of it, but it caught her fists soon into her combo and delivered a hard knee kick into her back that had her pitching forward off of him, and he jumped to his feet, turned and grabbed her tail before she could stand, and, with a furious look on its face, began to spin around with her, building momentum, before tossing her with all its strength into a tree. The tree groaned but thankfully didn't fall, however Nabel did, knocked out cold.

Before the Machop could even get into thoughts into its head about finishing the young Pokémon off, Ion returned his little girl to her ball, wincing. Well, two down, now he needed to use his last one or else he was out.

"Go, Mortimer!" Mortimer had been waiting for this almost as soon as he'd seen the black eye on his trainer's face, and he immediately jumped in front of him protectively and went into his samurai stance. Machop snarled at them, all thoughts of this being a fun fight before he chased off his intruders gone, and gave a savage war cry before he charged at Ion's last Pokémon.

Mortimer didn't need to be ordered, but he was - "Use Bone Club!" - and his eyes narrowed as he waited for the perfect time to strike...

And when Machop went to punch him, Mortimer's club went out, smashing into the Machop's arm and making the punch only brush by his helm instead of fully on it. Mortimer worked quickly, ducking around Machop's side and landing a savage blow into the pit of his stomach, causing it to gasp out and bend over, before smashing the back of the Machop's head with the 'pommel' of his club, Machop's eyes rolling into its head at the impact, sending it to the ground.

And not wanting to get any of his Pokémon hurt, Ion took this moment to bring out one of the balls his parents gave him, a strangely colored ball, black with green spots on it, and red rim where the black would have been on a normal ball, enlarged it, and prepared to throw it.

"Dusk Ball, go!" He shouted, throwing the ball at the downed Machop, his Cubone backing off. The ball struck it, sucked the Machop in, and then fell to the ground. It shook once, twice...

Ion watched with baited breath, this would be his first capture, and this was a very, very strong Pokémon, and until the end there, handled itself well. And if he managed to catch it...

Three times... And locked.

Ion didn't know if his eyes were deceiving him, not expecting the first ball to catch it, not with such a stubborn Pokémon, but after a few moments, let out a whoop, ran over to the ball and picked it up. "Yeah! Machop is MINE!"

"Cubone, bone," Mortimer added helpfully, watching and shaking his head, seeming to smirk as his trainer began to dance around.

Ray shook his head and smiled. "Good job, Ion, but we don't have time for celebration. We better get moving." He picked up the final remnants of the camp and stashed them in his pack.

Ion stopped his little dance, before he nodded, looking back at the cave and shivering. He could imagine more super tough Machop living in there, staring at him... "Right, and I need to get most of my Pokémon healed," The boy said, going to catch up with Ray and sighing, looking down at the ground under his feet as they walked briskly.

The two then began a journey that would last long into the night, dashing off away from the cave before more angry wild Pokémon got the bright idea to leave it, and perhaps expand a territory outside of it.

* * *

One sez: So yeah. A lot of firsts happened in this chapter; Ion's first real battle, the first battle that truly gave Ray some trouble (And would have resulted in being beaten horribly if Ion had been the one fighting, even with a fire type), the first fully made up combo-like attack, Ion's first phone number get, and also his first true Pokémon capture (That wasn't forced upon him to get a Pokémon healed).

I guess I'll talk about the Powder Gust move that the unnamed Bug Catcher used. It's one I made up completely. In game terms, it'd be of the Bug type and have a 20 power, but its effects would be very nasty; at 50% chance of inflicting Poison, Paralyze or Sleep, with a 10% chance of causing Badly Poisoned instead of Poison. And since this is a fan fic, Pokémon can be inflicted with two or more status effects, which, from a writing standpoint, it only becomes even nastier.

Considering many higher level trainers seem to have an Eon of some sort, Mr. Bug Catcher had probably faced an Umbreon or Espeon before and was beaten by the same Synchronization tactic, which would reflect status effects onto the one who caused them. He tried to counter it with a Lum Berry, but since we have no idea if that thing can counter more than one status effect, we assume it can only cure one, which was his downfall.

Since I have nothing else to add except one more tidbit, I'll let Tatsu take over. Sorry for the wait everyone, I hope it won't take this long ever again. ^.^; I tried to make this chapter longer than the others as part of my apology, but I don't know how well that works. Or if anyone except my one constant reviewer reads this, anyway. Buy anyway don't worry, the next few chapters are in the works, so hopefully we won't have quite as long a wait.

Tatsu says: And I know the delay is mostly my fault, as I was busy and then lazy. So I apologize. And One's covered most of the topics, but I'll add what I can.

Point one: Yes, powder gust is one of many combination attacks you will see. For example, a favorite you may have noticed is sand attack coupled with Tackle, quick attack, or some other such attack.

Point two: If you haven't noticed I am and will continue to replace what would be swear words with random nonsense in paranthesis. It may not be neccessary, but I wanted to do it anyway.

Yeah. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review, all that good stuff.


End file.
